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S^j^l ny i LIBIMRY OF COJJGRESS, 



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^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA t 




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FROM ATTIC TO CELLAR 



A BOOK FOR YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS 



BY 



Mrs. O a K E Y. 



7 



id (oil /Cr 



NEW YORK 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

182 FIFTH AVENUE 
1879. 



T 




Copyright by 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

1879 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction, . . . . i 

Choice and Arrangement of a Home, 4 

Daily Habits, . . . .16 

Servants, .... 22 

Duties of Servants, . . -3^ 

Duties of a Nurse, ... 68 
Two Servants, One Servant, No Servant, 75 

House Cleaning, . . - .84 

The Kitchen, . . . . 91 

Spinach, — Fish, — Tea-Making, „ . 104 
Children, . . . .110 

Children Under Twelve, . . .123 

School or Home, .... 144 

Home and Society and Dress, . -152 



FROM ATTIC TO CELLAR. 



INTRODUCTION. 

I HAVE heard so much of the trials and per- 
plexities of young housekeepers that, after 
forty years of experience, begun in ignorance, 
I think I may be able to give some aid and in- 
struction, and may speak with some authority. 
I desire earnestly to help those who wish to 
make a home for themselves and those around 
them. 

I believe much of the trouble of housekeep- 
ing is owing to the want of proper attention 
on the part of the housekeeper. Men choose 
for their professions the law, medicine, archi- 
tecture, merchandise, and theology, and they 



2 IN TROD UC 770 N. 

give all their attention to the professions they 
have chosen, or they cannot hope to succeed. 
A women chooses for her profession the head 
of a household. Properly viewed, it is the 
highest and most elevating of all professions, — 
let her not enter upon it lightly. She has in 
her hands the happiness and welfare and direc- 
tion of a few or many people, as it may be ; 
but she cannot neglect her work. It is not to 
be neglected, and cannot be put into the hands 
of any other person. It is her bounden duty 
to see that her home is clean, airy, cheerful, 
happy, and all its various economies attended 
to. She can no more neglect it with impunity 
than a doctor his patients, a lawyer his clients, 
a merchant his customers. She must be the 
mistress of her own household. She may have 
as many servants of high and low degree as 
her home and income may require, but she 
must be superintendent. She must require 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

obedience to her orders, and strict performance 
of duty; but she must understand what those 
duties are, how they should be performed, and 
what time they require, or her orders are of no 
value, and she cannot judge of their perform- 
ance. A mistress should go through her house 
every morning, praise where praise is due, and 
quietly find fault with any carelessness or 
omission, thinking nothing beneath her notice, 
but with a gentle authority which admits of no 
question, never placing herself in an antago- 
nistic position to any member of her household. 
Where there is decision it prevents all uncer- 
tainty (a most painful condition), and is very 
much for the good of all. 

Circumstances, temperament, good or ill 
health, make the conditions of housekeeping 
more or less light, and more or less pleasing; 
but a good and determined will does much for 
us all. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHOICE AND ARRANGEMENT OF A HOME. 

In choosing a home, the first object should be 
a wholesome situation, good drainage, ventila- 
tion, and a dry cellar. The health of the 
family depends upon these. Let your house 
be chosen according to your income and means 
of living, as far as possible. This advice seems 
almost a satire in New York, where there are 
no small houses in decent situations, and peo- 
ple requiring modest accommodations are 
driven into '' flats," — a mode of life in countries 
where there is no word like home. 

Do not live with a fine house over your head, 
and subsist in the basement. Few people, out 



O THE HOME. 

of your own family, know or care how you live. 
You will, probably, neither surprise nor please 
them by opening fine parlors kept only for oc- 
casions, and the reception of strangers. Let 
your home, large or small, be kept for the 
benefit of those who live in it. Warmth and 
light are better than fine furniture ; and good 
beds better than fine bedsteads. If there is 
plenty of money, one may have all these good 
and comfortable things with all possible beau- 
tiful surroundings. If not, a woman with taste, 
industry and ingenuity, and with her heart in 
the matter, can make almost any place cheery. 
The more tasteful, the more beautiful your 
home can be made, the better ahvays for those 
around you, and for the friends dear to them 
and you — not for show — not for display; these 
degrade the mind and the habits. 

In the arrangement of a home, let each mem- 
ber of the household, who is old enough, have 



THE A TTIC. 7 

his or her own room to be kept in order, and 
made as individual as possible. Carry this 
principle out, if you can, with servants. It 
saves much trouble to them and to yourself. 
If you have children, let the nursery be the 
sunniest and most cheerful room in the house, 
with pictures, and open fire. These surround- 
ings are a part of education. 

To begin with the attic. Let your servants' 
rooms have abundant means of washing (their 
own towels marked '' attic," and given out once 
a week with the bed-linen), comfortable beds, 
and bureaus in which they can keep their 
clothes. There should be a housemaid's closet, 
and in it everything which her work requires, — 
pail, scrubbing-brushes, scrubbing-cloths, dust- 
ers, towels, brooms (whisk and long), dust- 
pan, window-brush, dusting-brush, long-handled 
feather-duster for cornices and the tops of 
doors, short feather brush, chamois leathers 



8 THE HOME. 

(kept in a box or bag), not forgetting two large 
unbleached cotton covers for beds and furni- 
ture when she is sweeping ; on the door of the 
closet there should be a plain list of her work 
and the time required for doing it. 

The details of bedroom arrangement will be 
modified by circumstances: the number of 
occupants ; whether they are children or grown 
people ; and whether the income is large or 
small ; but comfort may be commanded by 
taste, ingenuity and industry, and perfect order 
and cleanliness. There maybe pictures on the 
wall, if only a wood-cut, books for private use, 
a writing-table, and portfolio, with means of 
daily bathing, fresh beds, and airy rooms, and 
if possible, the fire laid, to be used when re- 
quired. The drawing-rooms of a house are 
always characteristic of the family who live in 
them, and often who do Jiot live in them. 
Live in your drawing-rooms ; have books, work, 



DINING-ROOM. 9 

music, fire, all to make it the pleasantest place 
for the members of a family, — a place of rest 
after daily work, for comfort after struggles, 
for conversation, ease, reading, the relation of 
the experiences of the day, with nothing too 
fine to sit upon. Curtains are not for orna- 
ment, but for use ; drop them, shut out the 
cold, and have an open fire. It is the best of 
luxuries, the greatest ornament, and one of the 
most cheerful of companions. 

Let your dining-room be tasteful, comfort- 
able, clean, shining, the meal well served, or- 
derly, regular, whether luxurious or not, and 
well cooked if only a steak and potato. 

There should be a pantry with closets for the 
china and glass. If you have glass or china 
that you do not use daily, have a shelf for each 
with a list pasted inside, and require that it 
should be reported to you if anything is broken, 
and mark that broken piece from the list, that 



10 THE HOME, 

there may be no future question. Do the same 
thing with other china and glass. Let the 
waitress have everything requisite for her work, 
— brooms for the sidewalk and for carpets and 
stairs, pail, scrubbing-brushes and cloths, whisk- 
broom and dust-pan, dusters and towels, cham- 
ois leathers for silver, mirrors and door handles 
(kept separately), a pan for her silver and glass, 
another for her china, long and short-handled 
feather-dusters, and a placard upon her pantry 
door, with a list of her work — like that of the 
housemaid. (I write for a moderate household, 
where no men-servants are kept.) 

The kitchen (I hope it is a light one) should 
have a light closet if possible for the pots, 
sauce-pans, tins, baking-dishes, gridirons, fry- 
ing-pans, etc., all the pots and pans being turn- 
ed down to keep the dust out of them, or with 
covers upon them ; another closet for the sup- 
plies of the week, furnished with proper jars 



THE KITCHEN. 1 1 

with covers for whatever is to be kept in them, 
buckets for flour, bread-board, paste-board, 
dresser for ware and glass, plates and pitchers, 
a drawer for knives, forks and spoons, wooden 
and iron ; chopper, apple-corer, lemon-squeezer, 
etc., etc. ; another drawer for table-cloths, roller 
and towels ; enough tables for the work ; a 
proper table for the servants' meals, the cloths 
suitable for it, and one small table for the 
cutting up and pounding of meat. (This one 
must be kept well scrubbed, the others are 
better covered with table oil-cloth.) Suitable 
plates, dishes, cups and saucers, tea-pot and 
sugar-bowl, knives, forks and spoons for the 
servants' meals are also necessary. There 
must be a safe in the coolest place to put 
away cold meats, with ware dishes to put 
them on, and small jars with covers for cold 
rice, hominy or potatoes. It should be cleaned 
daily. The cook will need a plate-drainer 



12 THE HOME. 

over the drain, two dish-pans, one for washing 
and one for rinsing the plates and dishes. 
There should be a small rug before the drain, 
and upon the hearth, to save the cook's feet 
from wet and from the heat of the hearth (a 
cook must be active on her feet, or she can- 
not attend to her duties), a refrigerator, which 
should be kept perfectly dry and clean ; a 
bunch of skewers of all sizes hung upon a 
nail, to be wiped dry and returned to their 
bunch after using ; and a good clock. 

There should be a barrel into which all the 
servants should put the ashes, after they have 
been passed through the coal-sifter, also a 
proper receptacle for the refuse of the kitchen, 
both to be taken away daily. The cook should 
be furnished with brooms, scrubbing-brush and 
pail, cloths, iron-wash-rag and brush for the 
pots, whisk for the drain, soap in a wooden 
soap-tray, two scuttles, brush and blacking for 



THE LA UNDR Y. 1 3 

her range, and brush to clean it out, egg- 
beater, wooden spoons, hand-basin always 
ready, etc., etc. 

The laundress should have a closet, in which 
her dress-board, bosom-board, sleeve-board, 
ruffle-irons, fluting machine and irons may be 
kept ; two covers for each board, and for her 
table. The covers for the boards are best in 
the shape of a bag, into which they can be 
slipped. If you can have a mangle, it is best 
for both bed and table linen. 

It is well to require the washing to be 
brought upstairs as it is done, each evening. 
The table, bed linen and flannels on Tuesday ; 
the shirts, habits and sleeves on Wednesday. 
All this depends so much upon the size of the 
family, and whether the laundress is also cham- 
ber-maid, that no rules can be laid down, but 
so far as this system can be adopted it is best. 
The mistress should look at her list of soiled 



14 THE HOME. 

clothes, sent to the wash, and see that the 
numbers are right, and see to putting them 
away. This prevents the supposition that any- 
thing is lost in the wash. Do this for your 
own sake and in justice to the laundress. 

There should be a linen-closet neatly kept. 
It is well to nail upon the front of each shelf a 
wide cotton cloth, which can be turned up over 
the clean linen ; and the linen last brought up 
from the wash should be put underneath that 
all may be used in turn. There should be a 
shelf for toilette covers, tidies and rideaux ; 
one for towels ; one for the bed-linen ; one for 
the table-linen ; and one for spreads and heavy 
bed-covers. 

If there is a house-maid it is her duty to at- 
tend to the furnace. If not, a mistress can judge 
whether the cook or laundress can best attend 
to this work. A waitress should have as little 
to do with coal as possible, for her hands must 



THE STORE-ROOM. 15 

be nicely kept, and her dress clean and in 
order. 

The store-room should be placed if possible 
on the kitchen floor, as there the stores are 
needed. 



CHAPTER II. 

DAILY HABITS. 

Early rising is desirable. I do not mean 
getting people up before daylight. It is use- 
less to begin the day by making every member 
of the family uncomfortable. Whatever hours 
are necessary for the good of all should be ob- 
served, and if the head of the household is 
obliged to be at his business at an early hour, 
it is the duty of his family to adapt themselves 
to this necessity. Consideration should be 
given to peculiarities of temperament : some 
nervous people sleep better in the morning; 
let not rules or imaginary necessities interfere 

with health and comfort. 

16 



MORNING DUTIES, 1 7 

A mother must rise early (I write to mothers 
who are in good health), to see that all goes 
well in the nursery, if she does not perform the 
duties of nurse herself. Let the nurse and her 
children look for her presence with impatience, 
and feel that they need her assistance and 
oversight. Let children appear fresh from 
their baths, neatly dressed, however plainly, 
and come to the breakfast table with cheerful, 
happy faces, — the best attention they can show 
to their parents, — and turn up their little faces 
for a good-morning kiss. No child is too old 
for this while under the parental roof. The 
breakfast should be fresh, well served and care- 
fully prepared, whether frugal or luxurious. 
The mother should set the example of being 
neatly and appropriately dressed. She will see 
no one during the day before whom she should 
desire to appear so well, or to be so attractive. 
A cheerful, well-surrounded breakfast table is 



1 8 DAILY HABITS. 

a pleasant remembrance for a man to take with 
him to his business. If there are no children, 
there is the greater need of everything being 
cheerful and tasteful. 

I have nothing to say about family prayers ; 
this is a matter of conscience, taste and feel- 
ing, and must be governed by these. If the 
children go to school (I should put in a plea 
for home education until a child has reached 
the age of twelve. No one can teach children 
to read, and write, and sew as well as the 
mother, but this rather belongs to my chapter 
on Children) ; if they go to school, their les- 
sons must be attended to, and when they 
come home they must be taught to wash and 
dress themselves for dinner. If young enough 
to make it necessary to dine in the middle of 
the day (and this should be till after they are 
twelve), the mother should be present at the 
dinner to see that no bad habits are formed. 



DAILY HABITS. 1 9 

that there is no carelessness of diet, no irregu- 
larity. The meal hours are often the most in- 
structive and charming hours of the day. Ex- 
ercise in the open air as much as possible, but 
this must be governed by opportunity. With 
children, avoid above all things exposure to 
the sun (I mean, of course, the summer sun 
from the middle of June to the middle of 
September ; any exposure to it from ten till 
four brings with it all kinds of children's 
troubles ; at all other sea'^ons of the year the 
sun is the life of young and old). Blessed are 
the children who live in the country, with 
freedom from the necessity of an attending 
nurse ; but, city or country, the summer sun 
must be avoided. I need not point out the 
occupations of the day. With one who is 
wife and mother, or either, every hour is more 
than full. A wife should be ready and dressed 
to receive her husband upon his return home 



20 BAIL Y HABITS. 

at night, and if there are children, let them 
have the privilege of welcoming him too, be- 
fore going to bed. If he is a busy man, he 
sees them rarely enough. Keep up as much 
as possible, as much as is consistent with your 
duties, your intercourse with society. Keep 
yourself instructed and interested in all that is 
going on in the world, and do not become a 
mere housekeeper and nurse, not only for your 
own sake, but for the sake of every one about 
you. In the evening, try to collect about you 
your husband's and your children's friends, as 
well as your own ; but avoid all gossip, all 
meddling with the affairs of others. Let us be 
grateful that we are not responsible for the 
affairs of other people. Our own are always 
more than we can properly attend to. Repeat 
no scandal or disagreeable stories, and let not 
love of dress (the vice of our country) take 
hold of the thoughts and conversation. Taste- 



BAIL V HABITS. 2 1 

ful, appropriate dress is characteristic, and 
it is the duty of every one to dress as be- 
comingly as means and time permit ; but 
to spend upon expensive dress money which 
should be given to necessary and improving 
objects is both ignorant and vulgar. 

Hospitality is one of the best virtues — hos- 
pitality in its best sense ; not a display, not an 
effort to appear better than one's neighbors. 
Have no struggle to do what you cannot do 
well ; but in accordance with your means of 
living, welcome your friends to your table and 
to your fireside. The better fare you can give 
them justly, the pleasanter for you and for 
them ; but, above all, a warm welcome to 
whatever you can command ! And, here 
again, let me say, a cheerful fire is a welcome 
in itself. All sentiment apart, life becomes 
more easy when cheerfulness and order have 
sway. 



CHAPTER III. 

SERVANTS — CHOICE OF SERVANTS ENGAGEMENTS 

OF SERVANTS — TREATMENT OF SERVANTS. 

I LEARNED much on the subject of servants 
from an English book on domestic duties, pub- 
lished early in this century, which I picked up 
in England nearly fifty years ago, and from 
which I made some memoranda. I trust these 
suggestions may be as useful to my readers as 
this book was to me. 

The Choice of Servants. 

You cannot always have as wide a range in 

the choice of servants as you could desire, 

but you may adhere to certain rules. You may 

at first view satisfy yourself on looking at one 

22 



THE CHOICE OF SERVANTS. 23 

who applies to you for employment that she is 
not the person you want, and can reject her 
without hurting her self-love. Unless they 
have grown old in your service, it is better that 
servants should not be over forty, for many 
reasons. Cooks, housemaids and laundresses 
should be strong and active, wholesome and 
honest looking, with clean hands and no long 
backs. Look for decent and quiet manners, 
and reject finery or untidiness of dress. The 
better educated are more likely to understand 
their responsibilities and do their duty. For a 
waitress, you want good looks, active and neat 
person, and quick motion ; for a nurse, some- 
thing superior to all other positions. All that 
can be done is to know at first sight the kind 
of person you want, and to decide which is 
most likely to fill your requirements. Having 
decided upon these points, take the names 
of those chosen and inquire about them. 



24 SERVANTS. 

Engagement of Servants. 
Take no servant into your house without 
making thorough inquiry as to respectability 
and former service. Never accept a written 
character from an unknown quarter. See the 
former mistress, ask questions, and, in a degree, 
judge by herself and her house what the ser- 
vant's habits are. If those are untidy, the ser- 
vant's are, probably, untidy too. I am sorry 
to say that there is sometimes a want of prin- 
ciple among employers in the recommendation 
of servants, and there is nothing more preju- 
dicial to both servants and employers. Ser- 
vants are careless from the belief that whatever 
may be their conduct no one would be unkind 
enough to " spoil their prospects." It is an 
absolute duty to give a just character, and, 
were this duty observed, the influence would 
soon be felt in the improvement of the em- 
ployes. After making all inquiries, take the 



ENGAGEMENT OF SERVANTS. 2$ 

servant upon a week's trial ; if not satisfied, 
extend it to a month, unless she is recom- 
mended by some one upon whose word you 
can depend. When you are called upon for a 
character, recommend no servant whom you 
would not be willing to keep in your own ser- 
vice. I need hardly caution you against angry 
feelings toward a servant from whom you 
have parted. She has the same right to choose 
a place that you have to choose a servant. No 
servant has a right, however, to throw a house- 
hold into disorder by leaving without due no- 
tice. Make an agreement with the one you 
are engaging — in writing, if possible — that she 
must give you due notice of her departure, or 
forfeit a week's wages. Much disorder is pre- 
vented by this. She should claim the same 
notice if dismissed unless for absolute miscon- 
duct. After making every inquiry and taking 
every precaution, don't expect excellence. 



26 SERVANTS. 

Never send for a servant who is in place, or 
allow any person to apply to you who has not 
given due notice to her former mistress. I 
have known several instances of servants being 
offered higher wages to leave their '* present 
employer." It is a kind of larceny, and should 
be punished. 

Treatment of Servants. 
Treat your servants with confidence and con- 
sideration, and do not suspect them of doing 
wrong. They must be trusted more or less by 
the whole household, and trust, in most cases, 
begets a sense of responsibility. Require care- 
ful performance of their duties, strict obedience 
to your orders, tidiness and cleanliness in their 
persons, respectful manners and willing service ; 
and make them understand how much their 
good conduct adds to the comfort of the whole 
household. They must have time to do their 



TREA TMEN T OF SER VA NTS. 2 / 

washing and keep their clothes in order, or 
they cannot be clean and tidy. Treat them 
with kindness, but never with familiarity. Don't 
ask unnecessary questions. If they are sad 
and moody, take no further notice of it, than 
to suggest (if practicable), that the usual holi- 
day hours should be taken on that day, rather 
than on the one appropriated to them. With- 
out wholesome intervals of amusement, unin- 
terrupted work becomes intolerable. If they 
are ill, take the best care of them. Allow 
them to see their friends in the evening, not in 
the day-time, for it interrupts work. If you 
deny them the privilege of companionship, you 
establish an unnatural condition, which is a 
premium for deceit and worse than deceit. 
Servants will have friends, even lovers. Do 
not compel them to hide in areas, or to make 
appointments, but let everything be honest and 
aboveboard. There are and must be differ- 



28 SERVANTS. 

ences in the modes of pleasure and enjoyment, 
and in the gratification of wants and wishes, 
but there is a common womanhood. Let us 
remember this gratefully and feel how much it 
is in the power of every mistress of a house- 
hold to elevate those she employs. 

The habit of breaking up households every 
six or eight months, when families go to the 
country, is much against the improvement of 
servants and their desire to do their duty. Too 
many servants is a greater evil than too few. 
They had better be fully employed than not 
have enough to do. 

Let your servants look for your presence as 
an aid and assistance toward seeing their work 
more clearly. Never lose your temper with a 
servant. If she cannot be reasonably dealt 
with, dismiss her. But, with proper precaution, 
you are not likely to engage such a person. 

Appoint a time for the holiday of each ser- 



TREATMENT OF SERVANTS. 29 

vant, and, If possible, do not allow arrange- 
ments to interfere with this appropriated time. 
If necessary to defer it, have no question about 
it. I have never known an instance of unwill- 
ing assent. "" Good mistresses make good ser- 
vants " is an old adage and usually true. Ser- 
vants are influenced by example. If they see 
that your conduct is governed by principle they 
will respect you. If they see that your temper 
is well regulated, and that you desire to do your 
duty to them, while you expect a steady per- 
formance of their duty to you, their respect 
will be mingled with affection, and a desire to 
deserve your favor. 

A good and faithful servant may be one of 
the best friends of a family. In sickness, her 
services are sometimes invaluable. I have 
known, personally, three instances of devo- 
tion in servants rarely equalled by a friend or 
relation out of the immediate family. 



CHAPTER IV. 
DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

Duties of a Cook. 

I HAVE written, in '' Choice of Servants," 
that a cook should be clean, strong, active, and 
healthy ; she must be honest and sober, care- 
ful and economical. If a cook could be per- 
suaded to wear short clothes, short sleeves, 
strong shoes, a large apron and a clean collar, 
she would add much to her comfort and yours. 
A clean kitchen and a tidy cook are pleasant 
objects when one remembers how much the 
comfort and even the health of the family de- 
pend upon them. You can aid your cook in 

her economy and honesty by knowing how 

30 



A COOK. 31 

much is required, and how long each thing 
should last. Nothing should be misused, such 
as knives for prying, cleavers for hammering, 
etc., and nothing should be wasted. Sixpence 
a day is nearly twenty-three dollars a year. All 
so-called " perquisities " are a great mistake. 
Give your servants such wages as repay them 
for their work, but do not allow anything to be 
sold by them, for their sakes as well as yours ; 
it is a great temptation to peculation. Let 
your servants have as little to do with trades- 
people as possible. Give to the cook what is 
necessary for the consumption of the kitchen. 
She will soon understand that you expect her 
to do what is right, and will respect you the 
more for it. 

A quarter of a pound of tea is sufficient for 
each person for the week, unless you give cof- 
fee, too, when one pound of coffee, and half 
the quantity of tea will be sufficient. A pound 



32 DUTIES OF SERVANTS, 

of sugar is enough for each servant, a candle a 
week for each servant's bedroom, and one for 
the cook for cellar and closets (a small lantern 
in which the candle can be placed is best for 
this purpose). 

The cook must take charge of meat, bread, 
butter, eggs, and all articles of daily consump- 
tion, and it is the duty of the mistress to know 
how much should be consumed. If you keep 
books with tradespeople, enter every order in 
your own handwriting. It prevents all ques- 
tion. Make it understood by the people with 
whom you deal that you will mark out any 
charge not written by yourself. If the trades- 
man thinks anything has been omitted, let 
him write it on a piece of paper, and send the 
paper for you to enter the omission. 

Weekly accounts are best for all households. 
This enables the mistress to understand at 
once if she has exceeded the limits laid down 



A COOK. 33 

for herself, and to make any comments and 
question any prices. Paying cash is still better. 
A cook should be up at an early hour ; she 
should clean out the range and flues, and lay 
the fire. While it is kindling the tea-kettles 
can be filled with fresh water, and the servants' 
breakfast-table be prepared. The fire should be 
kept low during the day, a little coal being add- 
ed from time to time, till the larger fire is re- 
quired for dinner. The fire should be let down 
at night at as early an hour as convenient, to 
give the range time to cool, or it will soon be 
good for nothing but repairs. The flues under 
and around the ovens should be cleaned out 
at least once a week, and the ovens brushed 
and wiped out daily. 

The order of the cook's duties depends upon 
the breakfast hour. If you do not breakfast at 
an early hour, the servants' breakfast can be 
over, and the sweeping of the areas and hall 



34 DU TIE S OF SER VA N TS. 

can be done before ; but she must prepare and 
have ready whatever is ordered for breakfast. 
After breakfast, she should clean the pantries 
and stairs, wash and put away all utensils and 
sweep the kitchen early, so as not to interfere 
with other work. Orders for the day should 
be given early, and a little carte written and 
given to the cook for the servants' dinner, the 
lunch, the dinner, and the next morning's 
breakfast. No matter how simple your fare, it 
leaves no doubt on the cook's mind, and gives 
little trouble to you. Go into the store-room, 
and oblige your servants to come and ask for 
what they want, and answer no requests later. 
If there is anything for dinner requiring prepa- 
ration, like crumbed chops, croquettes, veal 
cutlets, etc., it should be prepared in the morn- 
ing, covered, and put away in a suitable place, 
that there may be no careless haste at dinner- 
time. A cook should have a basin and towel 



A COOK. 35 

always near for her hands, or she will flavor one 
dish with another. 

If your servants dine in the middle of the 
day, it is the duty of the cook to see that the 
meal is well cooked and well served, at the 
hour appointed, punctually, that they may 
adapt their work to this hour. 

Everything should be ready for dinner at 
the hour appointed. Care, neatness, and at- 
tention are necessary. With these qualities, 
an intelligent cook may rise to excellence. If 
she is not intelligent, she is not fitted to be a 
cook. 

After dinner comes the washing of dishes 
and the clearing up of the kitchen. Every 
vessel that has been used must be washed, 
dried, and put away, upside down if possible, 
to keep out the dust. 

The washing of plates and dishes is a rare 
art. I'hcre should be two tubs : one of warm 



36 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

water and soap (if your service is not gilt, soda 
is best), and one of cold water, in which they 
should be thoroughly washed, with a clean 
wash-cloth, in the hot water, and rinsed in 
cold, and then placed in the draining-rack to 
drain. Fine china should not be put into very 
hot water ; it cracks the enamel. With a rack 
no wiping is requisite, and the contamination 
of a soiled towel is thus avoided, I am told 
that a rack is unusual. It is simply four up- 
right bars, bound together with cross-bars in 
front and behind, and at the two ends wide 
enough to allow of small round bars to 
be put through them. Perhaps I can better 
describe it by saying, place two short lad- 
ders on their sides, the rounds very close, 
and joined at the two ends by two bars 
about ten inches long. Between these rounds 
the dishes and plates are placed vertically to 
drain. There may be two or three tiers, ac- 



A COOK. 37 

cording to the number of plates and dishes. 

The grate, hearth and floor should also now 
be swept and made clean, and the kitchen put 
into perfect order. 

Every part of the kitchen should be cleaned 
thoroughly once a week. This can easily be 
done by taking one closet on Monday, others 
on Tuesday, the dresser on Wednesday, etc. 

If the cook is required to wash bed-linen, let 
it be done on Saturday, so as not to interfere 
with the laundress. 

A cook should not allow her refuse pail to 
stand for more than a day. When the ashman 
takes it, let her see that the place where it 
stood is clean, and that the pail is scalded im- 
mediately. Carelessness on this point may in- 
fect the air of a house. 

If you have servants, let them do their own 
work, for which you employ and pay them. 
There is no reason why a mistress should do 



38 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

anything herself, but she must give her direc- 
tions clearly, and — with a cook (if any new dish 
is to be prepared) — stand by to see them exe- 
cuted — the directions being given, one by one. 
Two such lessons will enable any intelligent 
woman to understand what she is to do. Then 
write the directions clearly (if the woman can 
read, a most desirable accomplishment), and 
let her carry them out herself. Repeat the 
dish very soon, that the details may be im- 
pressed upon her memory. 

Duties of a Housemaid. 

A housemaid should be active, clean and 
neat in her person, and good-tempered, for she 
will often find her work increased by the care- 
lessness of others. 

Her first duty is to open the windows in the 
parlors, remove the fender and rug, and put a 
coarse cloth over the carpet while she takes 



A HOUSEMAID. 39 

away the ashes and cinders, cleans the grate 
and fire-irons, and lays the fire. If the irons 
are of steel, they should be rubbed with a bit 
of flannel wet with alcohol and dipped in 
emery powder and polished with a chamois 
leather ; if of iron, with black-lead, applied with 
a bit of cotton or flannel, and well polished 
with a brush ; if of brass, with oxalic acid. 
The fire should be laid with the wood cross- 
wise, to let the draft through ; the cinders 
which have been taken from the ashes laid on 
the wood ; then the coal. The ashes should 
be taken away, the hearth washed, the fender 
wiped, the rug (after shaking) replaced, scraps 
removed from the carpet with whisk-broom 
and dust pan, and the room thoroughly dusted, 
including window-sashes. The stairs should 
then be swept down and balusters carefully 
dusted before the family leave their rooms. 
As soon as the family are at breakfast, the 



40 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

housemaid should go to her bedroom work ; 
open the windows, and throw off the bedclothes 
on chairs at the head and foot of the bed, that 
the bedding may be well aired, though it is 
better for each member of the family to do this 
after dressing, to allow more time for airing. 
The maid should bring her chamber bucket, 
empty the baths and dry the tubs thoroughly, 
and wipe out the bath pails ; then bring a pail 
of hot water to wash out basins, pitchers, etc., 
and dry them with appropriate towels ; then 
rinse out the bucket and expose it to the 
air, and when dry put it back into the house- 
maid's closet. She should fill the pails with 
fresh water, dry and fold the towels on the 
towel-rack, or change them. The beds can now 
be made. After they are made, she should see 
that the carpet is free from scraps, and dust 
the room thoroughly, and close the windows, 
according to the season. If the fires are used 



A HOUSEMAID. 4 1 

in the bedrooms, the grate, fire-irons and hearth 
should be attended to first, and the scuttle left 
full. The servants should strip their beds 
when they rise in the morning, and open the 
windows and shut the doors, that they may be 
aired when the housemaid comes to them. I 
think it very important that servants who are 
at work down-stairs should not be expected to 
take care of their own bedrooms ; for it is im- 
portant, not only to them as a matter of health, 
but to the zvJiolc hoiiseJiold, that their rooms 
should be kept perfectly clean and well aired. 
If necessary for them to do this themselves, on 
account of the small number of servants, let a 
time in the day be appointed for it. 

The rooms under the housemaid's care should 
be cleaned once a week, each in turn, on such 
days as may be appointed, — attic on Monday, 
highest bedroom floor on Tuesday, and so on. 
The furniture should be thoroughly dusted and 



42 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

rubbed, and, if possible, removed into an ad- 
joining room ; if not, covered with one of the 
large cotton cloths. The window curtains 
should be turned up as high as possible, out of 
the dust, and the carpet should be swept with 
tea-leaves, or, if of very light color, with Indian 
meal. After sweeping, the dust should be re- 
moved from the tops of the doors, window- 
frames, and surbases with a soft, clean cloth 
duster, and the duster frequently shaken 
out of the window. The frames of pictures, 
looking-glasses, and mirrors should be dusted 
with a painter's brush, a feather duster, or a 
fox's-tail. If the wood of the furniture is 
spotted, a teaspoonful of linseed oil in a little 
cold water will remove the spots. Chimney 
ornaments, candlesticks, etc., should be care- 
fully removed while washing the mantelpiece ; 
but no clock should be moved. The window- 
curtains should be dusted with a feather duster, 



A HOUSEMAID. 43 

and the windows cleaned with newspaper wet 
and wrung out in cold water, and polished dry 
with clean, soft linen cloths. 

The bedrooms should be treated in the same 
order, and the mattresses whisked with a broom. 
A small and a slightly damped mop should be 
passed under any piece of furniture that cannot 
be moved. The fire should be laid ready for 
lighting, the mirrors cleaned (with newspaper 
and cold water), and a candle, free from sperm, 
should be left, whether gas is used or not. 
While the family are at dinner the housemaid 
must answer the door-bell, see that the fire is 
kept up in the parlor, drop the curtains, light 
the gas and turn it low. She should then go 
to the bedrooms, turn down the bedclothes, 
put anything in order which has been disturbed 
in dressing, set out the tubs, light the gas and 
turn it low. A good housemaid, as she leaves 
the room, will look to see that nothing has 
been omitted. 



44 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

When there are but three servants kept, the 
bedroom work devolves upon the laundress. I 
shall try in a later chapter to suggest the best 
arrangement of Avork where but two servants 
are kept, and when but one, or none. A time 
should be appointed for each servant's washing 
of her own clothes. 

Placard for the Housemaid's Closet Door. 

Open windows ; grates and fire-places. 

Floors ; dusting ; stairs. 

Bedroom work. 

Cleaning appropriated to each day. 

Arrange your dress. 

Door-bell ; fire, curtains, and gas in drawing-room. 

Attend to the bedroom work. 

Tubs, pails, basins, etc., and gas. 

Help the laundress up with her clothes, while the family are 

at dinner. 
Monday — clean attic. 
Tuesday — Highest bedroom floor. 
Etc., et". 

On Tuesday afternoon, while the waitress is 
doing her own washing, the housemaid should 
answer the door-bell. 



A LAUNDRESS. 45 

Duties of a Laundress. 

A laundress may be also a chamber-maid, 
where no housemaid is kept, in which case the 
housemaid's duties in the bedrooms devolve 
upon her. 

The laundress should be provided (if it is 
convenient, and not too expensive) with all 
things suitable for her work. Heavy and light 
irons, skirt-board, bosom-board, sleeve-board 
(covered with heavy flannel or bits of blanket) 
and two washable covers for each, — best in the 
shape of bags of the shape of the boarO.^ and 
to slip over them, — and two covers for the 
ironing table, also covered with flannel or 
blanket. It is the laundress's duty to keep these 
covers clean. A mangle for bed and table 
linen and towels is advantageous. With it not 
more than a quarter of the usual time spent 
in ironing is required, and it saves it from 
all scorching and gives to it the gloss and soft- 



4^ DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

ness of new. I have used for nearly forty years 
the old-fashioned heavy mangle filled with 
stone; but there are now many kinds. The 
linen is folded very smooth and rolled round 
the mangle pins, put under the weighted box, 
• and w^ith the handle the box is rolled backward 
and forward over the pins. There should be 
horses in the laundry for airing the clothes, and 
in summer a mosquito net to throw over them 
to protect them from dust and flies ; also a flu- 
ting machine and fluting scissors, a piece of 
bees'-wax for her irons, and some bits of cotton 
cloth in which to tie her wax, some gum arable 
and spermaceti for starch. 

The laundry should be kept scrupulously 
clean. Laundry work is the part of house- 
work over which a mistress can have the least 
supervision ; she must judge of it by the re- 
sults. No soda, potash, or borax should be al- 
lowed except for special occasions — the remov- 



A LAUNDRESS. 47 

ing of stains, obstinate grease spots, etc., — 
when it should be given out, bluing (of which 
ball-bluing is best), soap and starch must be 
used at the laundress's discretion. Table-linen 
is best with a little water-starch in it and 
mangled. Bed-linen is better mangled. Flan- 
nels must be washed by themselves in the hot- 
test soap-suds (no soap rubbed upon them), 
and rinsed in the hottest clear water, and pass- 
ed through the wringer and well shaken and 
ironed before they are quite dry. The clothes 
that are ready should be brought up at the end 
of the day. This is the duty of the housemaid, 
if one is kept. 

Clothes that are worn and torn should either 
be mended before going into the wash, or 
rough-dried and sent upstairs to be mended, 
before being starched or ironed. There is 
great economy in this. Clothes are much less 

destroyed in the wearing than by the wash- 



48 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

board, and a laundress should be forbidden to 
rub fine clothes upon it. The wash-board is a 
barbarous invention, and one generally yields 
to it from a supposed modern necessity. 

Duties of a Waitress. 

The duties of a waitress vary with the habits 
and needs of the family. She must first open 
the windows to air the rooms. If no house- 
maid is kept the care of the parlors devolves 
upon the waitress. After attending to the 
parlor work she should brush down and dust 
the stairs. It is important to do this before 
the family is stirring. The dining-room should 
then be attended to. (If the waitress has 
charge of the parlors they can be attended to 
after breakfast.) She should see that no scraps 
are on the dining-room floor ; set the breakfast 
table ; see that the kettle (and a waitress should 
have one which is used by no one else) is put up- 
on the fire filled with fresh filtered cold water.* 

* Water boiled on the table, in kettle or urn, is better. 



A WAITRESS. 49 

The front steps and sidewalk can be swept, 
and the front door and vestibule attended to 
before or after breakfast, according to the 
hours of the family. The vestibule should be 
washed daily. When breakfast is ready, the 
waitress should appear tidily dressed, and with 
white apron and cuffs. 

I think much waiting at the breakfast table 
is out of place. A waitress should look to see 
that she has omitted nothing, and should be 
within call during breakfast time. She has the 
china and silver to wash, the carving-knives to 
clean, the cleaning appointed for each day, the 
door-bell to answer, and that she may never go 
to the door looking untidy, a part of the pan- 
try furniture should be a large, coarse apron, 
which will shield her while doing her work. 

Lunch is a less formal meal but it should be 
nicely served and announced, and dinner should 
be looked upon not merely as something to 



50 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

eat, but as the climax of the day, — for rest, 
comfort and conversation. The table should 
be carefully laid, — folds of the table-cloth in 
line, two large napkins placed at the head and 
foot of the table with corners to the centre, 
every plate wiped before being set upon the 
table, the glass clear, the silver polished, the 
salt-cellars filled with fresh-sifted salt, (A little 
stamp upon the salt improves the appearance.) 
When the plates are laid, two forks should be 
put on the left hand, a knife and a soup-spoon 
on the right, large spoons crossed at each salt- 
cellar, and salt-spoons on the top ; tumblers 
and wine-glasses on the right hand at each 
plate, a napkin folded with a piece of stale 
bread within its folds, the soup-plates placed 
in the plate at the head of the table, and the 
napkin in the upper one. Soup-ladle, gravy- 
spoon, and carving knife and fork go before 
the mistress ; fish-trowel (if there is fish for 



A WAITRESS, 51 

dinner), , gravy-Spoon, and carving knife and 
fork before the master ; if there is no soup, no 
ladle, if no fish, no trowel ; if but one dish of 
meat, one carving knife and fork. If you have 
neither fruit nor flowers, a bowl with bits of 
ice makes a pretty centre. 

The side-table should be laid with a white 
cloth, the silver, plates, finger-bowls, that will 
be needed during dinner, arranged tastefully 
upon it, the castors, a pat of butter with ice 
upon it, and one or two spare napkins, making 
it a pretty object. 

When the soup is on the table, let the wait- 
ress come quietly and say, '' Dinner is served." 
A good waitress makes no noise. She will 
stand at the dining-room door till the family 
has passed in, and then take her place by her 
mistress to hand the soup. When the soup 
course is over, the waitress takes oft the plates, 
one in each hand, and takes them to the pantry. 



52 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

or to a tray outside the door. Permit no pil- 
ing of plates as they are taken from the table, 
nor allow the soiled plates to be placed on the 
side-table. As the soup is removed hot plates 
should be ready for fish or meat, and as the 
waitress places the hot plate before each person 
she removes the cold plate to the side-table. 
Fish should be served alone — no vegetables, ex- 
cept in some instances potatoes. Salad is also 
allowable with fish. If fish be broiled, a lemon 
cut in quarters should be handed, to be squeezed 
upon the fish, unless fish-sauce is preferred. With 
salmon, thinly cut slices of cucumber, dressed 
with pepper, salt, and vinegar, should be served. 
Before the fish is removed, the fish-trowel and 
spoon should be taken off on a tray or plate ; be- 
fore the meat is removed, the carving-knife and 
fork and gravy-spoon should be carefully taken 
on a plate or tray. After the meat and plates 
are removed, the unused silver should be taken 



A WAITRESS. 53 

off, then the salt-cellars. The table being clear- 
ed, the crumbs should be taken off with a 
crumb-knife or with a napkin upon a plate ; 
then the spread napkins should be taken off by 
the four corners. 

Place upon the table the dessert-plates, and 
spoons, and forks, if for pudding or sweets of 
any kind ; if for fruit, a plate with a colored 
doily, a finger-bowl, and a silver knife and fork. 
If coffee is served, it should be placed on a tray, 
with coffee-cups and sugar, at the head of the 
table. The old fashion of a polished and bare 
table for fruit is gone out, except where an 
elaborate table and men-servants are kept. 

It is the duty of the waitress to see that no 
one is without bread, water and wine during 
dinner, being careful to hand everything on the 
left hand side, and never reaching in front of 
any one. 

If tea is taken in the evening, the tray should 



54 DUTIES OF SERVANTS, 

be set in the drawing-room before dinner. If 
there is an urn or spirit-kettle, the water should 
be boiled upon the table, and watched, for the 
tea should be made the moment the water 
boils. If the water stands after boiling, the 
tea is never clear. Where there is no urn or 
spirit-kettle, the waitress should feel the re- 
sponsibility of bringing the kettle at the proper 
moment. The waitress's kettle for tea should 
be used for no other purpose, and should be 
rinsed out night and morning, and filled with 
fresh, cold, filtered water. 

The waitress should have a baize-lined drawer 
in the side-board for her small silver, and a list 
on the bottom of the drawer of the silver in 
daily use ; and a closet in the side-board for 
the larger pieces, each with a baize cover, and 
a list of the pieces on the door of the closet. 
She should be provided with two baize-lined 
baskets (if there is no safe), — one for forks, 



A WAITRESS. 55 

Spoons, ladles, etc., and a larger one for the 
larger pieces ; and the silver should be carried 
upstairs in these baskets at night to an appoint- 
ed place. Narrow leather straps passed under 
the baskets, carried over the handles, tied in 
their places and buckled tight, will prevent the 
weight of the silver from loosening the han- 
dles. If there is a silver tray in use it should 
be put into a fitting cover and carried up with 
the silver. 

The use of plated knives saves much trouble ; 
they are less expensive, and can always be 
made bright and clean with a little hot water 
and soap ; whereas the steel knives, unless 
kept in fine order, are not an ornament to the 
table, and require great care and skill in clean- 
ing. A smooth pine board should be used, 
well covered with soft bath-brick, and the 
knives rubbed backward and forward, first on 
one side, then on the other, till they are finely 



56 DUTIES OF SERVANTS, 

polished. The handles should never be wet, or 
they split and become yellow. 

Fine china should be washed in warm water ; 
too hot water is apt to crack the enamel. Glass 
should be washed in cold water (wine-glasses 
and tumblers), and polished with a soft linen 
towel. Silver should be washed in the hottest 
water, — with a little soda in the water, — wiped 
dry and polished with a chamois leather. When 
cleaned, mix ball-whiting with some hartshorn 
to a paste. Hartshorn should not be used with 
plated ware, alcohol may be used. Apply it 
with a flannel, and polish with the leather. If 
the silver is embossed, it will require a soft 
silver-brush. 

It is the waitress's duty at night to see that 
the area-gate is closed, the windows fastened, 
the doors locked, the gas put out. It is well 
for some member of the family to loop back 
the curtains before going upstairs, to preserve 



A WAITRESS. 57 

them from the contact of working hands in the 
morning. 

A mistress should tell the waitress in the 
morning whether she will receive visitors or 
not, that no visitor may be treated with the in- 
civility of sending in a card and being refused 
admittance, or kept waiting while the servant 
is running up and down stairs. Let the mis- 
tress say she is ''engaged," *' indisposed," ''will 
not receive," or " is at home ; " but do not ex- 
pect a servant to say you are " out," or " not at 
home," if you are in the house, if she is to tell 
the truth upon other occasions. Though the 
phrase " out " is understood in society, your 
servant may only understand it as a falsehood. 

Placard for Waitress's Pantry. 

Open windows. Grates, fires and hearth. Brush carpet. 
Dust thoroughly. Stairs. Sidewalk before or after breakfast. 
Kettle. Breakfast-table and waiting. Wash silver, china, 
and glass. Salt-cellars, castors and knives. Cleaning ap- 
pointed for the day. Lunch. Dress. Dinner. Washing of 
dinner silver, china and glass. Tea. Silver. Locking up. 



58 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

Duties of a Lady's Maid. 

A woman who takes this position must be 
neat, active, a good dress-maker, a neat seam- 
stress, and a good hair dresser, and must under- 
stand the getting up of fine muslins and laces. 

Every lady has her own way and order of 
dressing, and must direct the maid accordingly. 
The maid's first daily duty is to repair to her 
mistress's dressing-room, where the house- 
maid, if there be one, has already attended to 
the grate and fire ; if there is no housemaid, 
the maid must take this duty upon herself. 
Let her protect her hands with a pair of old 
gloves, and her dress with a large apron, for a 
lady's maid needs to keep her hands smooth, 
delicate and very clean. She must then pre- 
pare the bath, take out the morning dress, put 
the underclothes to the fire, and have every- 
thing needed upon the toilet table, when she 
may ^o and get her breakfast. 



A LADY'S MAID. ^g 

The dressing over, everything is to be put 
away, brushes combed out, sponges hung up, 
towels dried and folded, and the room put in 
order. If she is housemaid as well as lady's 
maid, she will then attend to the bedroom. (All 
these duties have been described.) 

The dresses worn the day before must then 
be examined and dusted, and, if muddy, care- 
fully cleaned, — dresses of woolen material with 
a proper brush, those of silk, with a piece of 
silk or soft woolen ; all the spots should be re- 
moved, and any repairs made, and the clothes 
hung up in their places. Much-trimmed dress- 
es should be hung on two nails, by loops 
placed on the belt under the arm, or the weight 

will drag the skirt into lines. The waists, if 
separate, should not be hung up. They should 

be folded carefully with the lining outside, and 

the seams at the shoulders pulled out straight, 

and laid upon a shelf or in a drawer. 



6o DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

The bonnet should next be attended to. If 
the flowers are crushed they should be raised 
with flower-pliers, which may be got at a flower 
shop, and the feathers, if damp held before, 
and not too near the fire or over the steam of 
boiling water, to restore their curl and crisp- 
ness. Outer garments should undergo the 
same examination that they may be ready for 
wear. Velvet should be cleaned with a soft 
hair brush. Thin dresses in summer should be 
shaken, pressed as often as required ; and, for 
this purpose, a maid should have a skirt-board, 
covered with clean flannel, a.id two or three 
fresh cloths, which may be removed and 
washed. 

After having attended to the dresses, she 
can sit down to any work she may have to do, 
until she is called upon again. She should take 
out w^hatever dress is to be worn for dinner 
and all its belongings, and, if there is an even- 



A LADY'S MAID. 6 1 

ing toilet, this must be taken out and made 
ready, seeing that the skirts are of the right 
length, etc., etc. 

Some ladies require their maids to sit up 
and undress them, and brush their hair and 
prepare them for bed. This seems to me not 
only a very unreasonable requisition, but a 
very dangerous one to both morals and health. 
While the mistress is at a gay party, does she 
expect her maid to sit alone in expectation of 
her return ? She is not likely to do so. It 
would be better that she should go to bed 
when her mistress leaves the house, and be 
ready for her duties the next morning. 

Brushes should be washed at least once a 
week. Dissolve some soda in boiling water, 
dip the bristles of the brush into the water 
several times, wetting the handle and back as 
little as possible, rinse with cold water, wipe 
the backs and handles, but not the bristles (it 



62 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

makes them soft), and put them into the sun 
to dry, bristles down. It is better to brush 
out the combs and not wet them ; a comb- 
cleaner may be had at any druggist's. All 
mending but that of stockings, unless of silk, 
should be done before clothes are sent to the 
wash. If silk stockings need mending, the 
stitches should be picked up carefully. Lists 
should be taken of clothes sent to the wash, 
for the laundress's sake, as well as your own. 

A lady's maid may make herself useful by 
taking charge of the table and bed linen, ex- 
amining and making repairs before the wash, 
and receiving it and putting it away when 
brought from the laundry. 

Many families keep a seamstress, whose only 
duty is to sew, make whatever is to be made, 
and repair and keep in order the linen and 
clothes. Where there are many children this 
is rather an economy than an extravagance. 



A MANSERVANT, 63 

Duties of a Man-Servant. 

Where but one man-servant is kept his 
duties are complex ; his place is no sinecure. 
He must be up early, to do his rough work be- 
fore the family is stirring. He has the front 
steps and sidewalk to clean, boots to black, his 
master's clothes to brush, and must have the 
dining-room and breakfast-table in order and 
be neatly dressed before the family comes 
down. In many families an under-servant is 
kept, or one comes in for a few hours in the 
morning to attend to the sidewalk, black the 
boots, fetch the coal, attend to the furnace, 
pump the water (if there is a reservoir), and 
break up the wood. This is a great relief, and 
enables the man-servant to have more time for 
his morning work. Where no man-servant is 
kept, this under-servant is almost a necessity 
in winter. 

The man-servant should be ready to attend 



64 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

to and wait upon the breakfast-table, in a neat 
jacket and clean apron. While the famil)' is 
at breakfast, he should go into the hall, brush 
the hats, and lay the gloves upon the rim, and 
be ready to help to put on the coats and the 
overshoes, and to hand umbrellas and canes. 
After breakfast, he should clear the table, 
brush up the crumbs, look to the fire, fold the 
table-cloth, and leave everything in order ; 
then go the pantry, put on an apron which 
ties at the neck and waist, and a rough pair of 
cuffs, and wash his china, glass, and plate, 
clean any knives that have been used at break- 
fast, and leave his pantry in nice order. (I 
have before given directions for washing glass, 
china, and silver.) He must answer the door- 
bell. 

The servant should know whether he is to 
admit visitors or not. If they are to be ad- 
mitted, he should precede them, to the door 



A MAN-SERVANT. 65 

of the drawing-room, and announce them by 
name, distinctly. This prevents many awkward 
mistakes. When the visitors depart, he should 
be ready to open the door. 

Luncheon must be attended to, and if it is 
required to go out with the carriage, he must 
give notice to the housemaid to answer the 
bell during his absence, so that no one may be 
kept standing at a door. When the carriage 
drives to the door, it is the man's business to 
announce it, to stand ready with his gloves 
on, to assist his mistress into the carriage. 
He should stand at the door till she has 
passed out, having first put any wraps in- 
to the carriage, hold his arm for her as she 
gets in, see that her dress is free from the door, 
and having shut it, wait at the window to re- 
ceive directions. Whenever the carriage stops, 
he should jump down and assist his mistress to 
alight by holding his arm for her hand to rest 



66 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

Upon. Having returned home, he should ring, 
then open the carriage-door, assist his mistress 
to ahght, stand at the front door till she is in 
the house, take out the wraps and any bundles, 
shut the carriage-door, and return to his occu- 
pations in the house. 

The dinner-table is to be laid, and all things 
connected with it attended to by him. These 
directions have all been given in the *' Duties 
of a Waitress," and also the service at table. 
A man should be neatly dressed in black, with 
white neck-tie and white gloves. While the 
family are at dinner, the housemaid should 
bring in the door-mat and light the gas in the 
hall. When the dessert is put upon the table, 
the servant should go into the drawing-room, 
attend the fire, light the gas and drop the cur- 
tains. 

After dinner, he should attend to tea in the 
drawing-room, go to his pantry, wash and put 



A MAN-SERVANT. 6/ 

away glass, china and silver, bolt the doors, put 
out the gas, and carry the silver upstairs, if 
there is no safe. (See ''Waitress.") A foot- 
man who performs his duties quietly, respect- 
fully, and without bustle, is a great treasure. 

In many houses now the dinner is served a la 
Russc. China, plate, glass, fruit and flowers 
are put on the table, and the dinner is carved 
and served from the side-table. In such case, 
the man-servant needs to be a good carver. 

Dean Swift quaintly recommends that a foot- 
man shall read all notes, in order better to ful- 
fill his duties to his master. An old lady of 
Forfarshire had a Caleb Balderstone sort of ser- 
vant, and being in haste, took the precaution 
to read her note to him, adding, *' Now, An- 
,drew, you ken aboot it, and need na stop to 
open and read it." But we think it better for 
a messenger not to take so lively an interest. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DUTIES OF A NURSE. 



** That child is happiest who never had a 
nursery-maid, only a mother," says Miss Mu- 
loch. I think no one will deny this, yet the 
necessity for hired nurses is a part of the arti- 
ficial life we all lead. A nurse is the most 
difficult of servants to find. Many servants 
are honest, well meaning, capable of being train- 
ed for any service except that of nurse. No 
rough or ignorant woman should be tolerated. 
I should consider good looks, good accent and 
manner of speaking desirable, and among the 
necessary requirements, good health and ac- 
tivity, a cheerful, good-tempered expression of 

63 



A NURSE. 69 

face ; for children are imitative, especially of 
expression. One wants also conscience, taste, 
gentleness, and supreme neatness. Where will 
you find all these qualities combined ? There 
is but one resource : the mother must be head 
nurse herself. She must overlook no short- 
comings. Health, temper, habits — all are in 
question. If one is fortunate enough to meet 
with a sensible woman, she may be made to 
understand how much the future welfare of the 
children depends upon her obedience to direc- 
tions and upon the careful performance of her 
duties, that the cares of the mother must be 
seconded by hers, and that the smallest omis- 
sion may produce bad results — the exchange of 
a warm garment for a thin one, the leaving off 
any article of clothing usually worn, etc. 

Little children should be made happy, left 
free from unnecessary checks and restraints, 
and supplied with occupation. Indeed, occu- 



70 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

pation is the secret of happiness, whether with 
children or adults. The law of love should 
govern the nursery, and not the law of irrita- 
tion. Blocks, picture-books, threads and need- 
les, round-ended scissors, paper and pencils, 
chalks, dolls and doll-clothes, are among the 
accessories of a good nursery. If the nurse 
has the will she may keep children amused, 
and if they get the nursery in great confusion 
it is easily put in order again by a willing and 
active nurse, though children should not be al- 
lowed to destroy or mislay anything. No one 
should take a place as nurse, nor be allowed to 
keep such place, who has not a natural love of 
children. A watchful mother can soon judge 
how worthy the nurse is of her confidence. 

It is desirable that the children should play 
in a different room from that in which they 
sleep, and that it should contain an open fire 
of wood or soft coal. 



A NURSE. 7^ 

Children are rarely ill tempered, unless made 
so by others or by sickness and suffering, in 
which cases it cannot be considered as ill tem- 
per. They may be wilful, but decision and 
gentleness will remedy it. Yielding and coax- 
ing are the great enemies of obedience with 
children. A nurse should not be allowed to 
punish a child. If she attempts it, she should 
be reproved, and if not obedient, dismissed. 
She should be a light sleeper, ready to wake at 
the slightest noise, and cheerfully, and should 
always be within easy hearing distance of a 
sleeping baby, since a baby may wake and cry 
on account of discomfort which she could 
readily remove. No two children should be 
put to sleep in one bed, nor with the nurse ; it 
is injurious to health. I prefer a nurse not less 
than 25 nor more than 35, unless she has grown 
old in the service of the same family — a rare 
event now. 



7^ 



nnrr/'S or sfataivts. 



A nurse should l)t' up rail)' in order to make 
her lire (unless a housemaid is kepl\ air the 
elothi's, and have ever)'lhini; read)' lor her 
liltli' ehar!.>;es. She sliould wash and di)' them 
well. A whitf cotton slun-t, for I'ach ehild to 
he wiappi'd in upon Ixmu;.; taken out ol the 
hath, is a I'.itMt satei;uard av.ainst exposure; ii 
hahy should hi- taken in a hlaid^ct. Most 
mothers \\e>uld reserve this pleasure autl duty 
ol washing; tiie l)al)}' loi t lu-mseK'es. The 
windows should be opened, the water and tubs 
remox'eil, and evtM\'tliinL; restoreil to order but 
the ihildrrn's beds, which should be lelt to air 
lOi- a lou;; lime. An liulia rubbei' cloth oxer 
tlu- litlK' n\at t rc\sses, wit h a blankrl oxer it and 
uuihi tlu- slu'c't is aiK'isable. l'"lannc>l nii;ht- 
«.',owns are much better h>r little" childrcMi than 
eolton. Ni>lhini'; should \^c lelt in a nursery 
for a monu-nl which can alfeet the air. No 
napkins should be dricul in it. 



A iVUA'SK. 73 

A boy should not he kept in the nursery- 
after five ye:irs of at^e ; and a little ^\v\ should 
have her (jwn room, and have a [)ride in it at 
as early an a<^e as possible. 

Children's meals should not be taken in the 
nursery if it can be avoided, and tlu; nurse 
should see that the children are neatly dressed, 
washed and aproned before sitting down to 
their meals, and that their aprons are removed 
and their hands and faces washed after eating. 

A nurse shoijld have her work-basket always 
at hand to make any repairs, but unless under 
peculiar circumstances (only one child, or a 
happy, contented baby), she can do little 
consecutive sewing. If there are many chil- 
dren, and she does her duty faithfully from 
early morning until her little charges are in 
bed, she should have rest, and time ft)r reading 
and for her own sewing. She must have her 
hours of recreation, and time for her meals, un- 



74 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

interrupted. All this each mother must ar- 
range for herself, but '^ all work and no play 
makes " not only '* Jack " but the servants 
" dull." 



CHAPTER V. 

SERVANTS 

In those households where but two servants 
are kept, one should do the cooking, washing 
and ironing, and keep the lower part of the 
house in order ; the other should be housemaid 
and waitress. Where the family is small the 
work is not too much for two servants ; where 
the family is large, care should be taken by the 
different members not to increase the work un- 
necessarily, and there should be a willingness to 
aid in keeping things in order. We live in New 
York, as it were, in towers, with stairs upon 
stairs. To those who go up and down only to 

their meals, to dress, and to go to bed, this 

75 



7^ DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

mode of life is but a light affair ; but to ser^ 
vants, who must answer the door bell, run with 
letters and messages, and go up and down for 
their necessary Avork, it is, often, a cause of 
much distress. A considerate mistress will 
give them as little of this climbing as possible, 
by giving notice that she will or will not re- 
ceive visitors, and by having a box in the hall, 
in which notes and letters may be deposited 
which do not require an immediate answer, 
and by giving such clear directions in the 
morning that no running to ask questions is 
necessary. 

One Servant. 
Where one servant is kept, the arrangements 
must be systematic or there will be confusion. 
A maid of all-work must begin her day by open- 
ing the windows of all the lower part of the 
house to air the rooms. She may then brush 



ONE SERVANT. 77 

out the range, make the fire, sweep the kitch- 
en, fill the kettle with fresh cold water, and 
then go to the dining-room to put it in order. 
She proceeds like any housemaid, (I need not 
repeat the duties) and, after sweeping and 
dusting, lays the breakfast table, shuts the door 
of the room, sweeps the hall, shakes the mats, 
cleans the door and bell-handles, and the door- 
steps. If the family breakfast very early, the 
hall and door steps must be left until after 
breakfast. She should now wash her face and 
hands, smooth her hair, put on a clean apron 
and collar, and be ready to take the kettle 
or urn to the table. While the tea is drawing 
she must prepare the breakfast and serve it. 
She can then take her own breakfast. 

While the family is at breakfast, the maid 
should go upstairs, empty the tubs, put the 
rooms in order, and leave them to the air. The 
beds should be made, and the rooms dusted by 



78 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

members of the family. They may have the 
satisfaction in this way of having well-made 
and attractive looking beds. The servant 
should then take from the breakfast-table the 
meat, dishes and plates, place a vessel of fresh 
hot water on a tray upon the breakfast table, so 
that the mistress can wash the china, silver and 
glass herself, and attend to castors and salt- 
cellers, brush up the crumbs, fold the table- 
cloth, and restore the room to order. A pair 
of gloves and large apron, in which to perform 
these services should be kept at hand. The 
maid should sweep down the stairs and dust 
the hall and balusters. After these duties are 
performed, the mistress should go down stairs 
and give her directions for the day, and give 
out from her store-room whatever supplies are 
needed. It would be well for the mistress to 
dust the drawing-room herself, especially the 
books and bric-a-brac, for the hands of a 



ONE SERVANT, 79 

maid-of-all-work are not always in condition. 

As soon after breakfast as possible the maid 
should see that everything is ready for dinner, 
to avoid confusion and haste ; she can then go 
to her washing or ironing. No maid-of-all-work 
can do all the washing of a family (unless it be 
a very small one) where tasteful order is pre- 
served. A woman on Monday to assist with 
the washing is a relief, and when the clothes 
are washed, dried and starched, she can find 
time, during the week, to do the ironing at in- 
tervals, if her employers are reasonable people. 

When the dinner hour arrives, the maid must 
have the dinner ready, having first set the table, 
and the family must submit to having some 
dishes " kept hot " (the ruin of good cooking) 
unless the plainest dinner is to be served. The 
maid having changed her dress, must bring in 
the dinner, see that every one has bread and 
water, and prepare the second course, if there 



8o 



DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 



is one. When the first course is over, slie will 
return, clear the table and put o\\ the dessert. 
After dinner she should brush up the crund)s 
and the lu\irlh, and i^o and eat her own 
dinner. 

After dinner is over she slundd wash and 
put away the ditnier service, arrani^e her 
kitchen and put on the kettle for tea (if the 
famil)' take tea aftcM- dinner). She should take 
in tea, i^o up stairs, turn down the beds, see 
that the tubs are set out and jxiils full, take 
down the U-a service, wash it, and carry up 
the silver. 

The cleanini^ of the lunise slundd be divided 
so that c\ich da)' ma)' have its proper share: 
The parlor and dinins^-rooni one da)', two bed- 
rooms on another, and so on, that the rei^ular 
dail)' work ma)" not be crowded out of its rou- 
tine. 

At nii;ht, the servant should leave her 



NO SEA' VAN 'J \ 8 1 

kitchen so tluit nothin<^ but the morning work 
is to be cU)ne — her wood and coal ready by the 
range or stove, and see that the doors and win- 
dows are k)cked and bolted. 

A h.ousehoUl cannot be carried o\\ with sys- 
tem and order with but one servant, unless the 
mistress is energetic, reasonable, and ready to 
do what is necessary. If washing is to be done, 
let it not be an excuse for every mistake or 
omission, but press it into the proper space 
and time. 

When there is a child or children, the 
mother if she cannot have more than one ser- 
vant must be nurse herself. The necessity 
is ver)' delightful for the child, but it is very 
hard work for the mother. 

No Servant. 
A family can live in New York without a 
servant. There will be, of course, some incon- 



82 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

veniences, but anything is better than to strug- 
gle to do what one cannot afford, or to incur 
expenses which one is unable to meet. 

This plan can be carried out by taking a 
small apartment, and getting one's own break- 
fast and lunch, an object easily attained by 
having cold meat (which may be bought at 
any restaurant), pressed beef, tongue or ham, 
with the addition of a boiled ^^'g, or an ome- 
lette, toast and tea or coffee. If there are 
children, rice, oatmeal or hominy may be 
boiled in an earthenware saucepan, which is 
easily washed ; baked apples, a very wholesome 
dish, are also readily cooked. 

The chief trouble is the fire. A gas stove 
can be used, by which anything may be cook- 
ed. It is also economical, as the gas can be 
put out as soon as used. The dinner, or in- 
deed all the meals, can be sent in from a res- 
taurant, an agreement being made, either for 



NO SERVANT. 83 

SO much for each person, or by the day or 
week. 

A woman can be brought in occasionally to 
clean the apartment. The washing, of course, 
must be put out. Tliis is, in some respects, 
a most comfortable way of living, since it 
relieves a mistress of many responsibilities and 
doubtful expenses. In the country no restau- 
rant can be called into aid, but a woman might 
be engaged to come in for a few hours every 
afternoon to prepare the dinner and clean the 
kitchen. 



CHAPTER VI. 
HOUSE CLEANING. 

House cleaning is usually a terror to the 
men if not the women of a family. This can 
be avoided by taking only one floor, or even 
one room at a time. Let it be thoroughly 
done, and go to the next without its interfer- 
ing with the daily arrangements. A room can 
usually be cleaned and restored to order before 
night. If there is painting to be done, several 
pails of cold water should be placed in the 
room, to absorb the impurities and prevent the 
odor. 

The closets should be attended to with great 
care — especially with the Croton and furnace 
pipes running through them, — and newspapers 

84 



HOUSE CLEANING. 85 

laid upon the shelves, will often prevent moths 
and any other insects from intruding. 

The cellar is the most important part of the 
house to be kept clean ; next the kitchen. 
From these the air of the house may be made 
unwholesome, if not free from all vegetable 
matter. 

If there is any possibility of rats in the lower 
part of the house, or any appearance of a rat- 
hole, Cayenne pepper will free you from such 
intruders. 

I hope my suggestions may be of use to 
young house-keepers, and, in a degree, relieve 
them from some of the trials I went through 
in early house-keeping. Everyone must learn 
more or less, by her own experience, and 
circumstances are so different, and requisitions 
so various, that no rules can be laid down ; 
but I shall be fully repaid for my exertions if I 
make any mother more thoughtful, or any 
home more comfortable. 



CHAPTER VII. 

DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

The duties of servants must vary more or 
less with the habits of the community in which 
they Hve, and the special views of the house- 
holds in which they are employed. They 
must be, however, to a certain degree the same, 
century after century. I have in my pos- 
session two curious papers, one, a notice of a 
fair for the hire of servants, the other, orders 
for household servants, which I give as curios- 
ities. 

DOVERIDGE STATUTES. 

The public are hereby acquainted, that Statutes 
for the purpose of hiring Male and Female servants, 
will be held at Doveridge on the 29th of December, 
1 80 1, being the first Tuesday after Christmas day, 

86 



HARRINGTON'S ORDERS, 8/ 

and are intended to be held annually on the Tues- 
day following Christmas day ; and as there are a 
great many towns and villages where no institution 
of the same kind is held, it is hoped that it will 
prove very useful and convenient both to Masters 
and servants. 

A pair of breeches will be given to be run for by 
men, and a pair of gloves to the second. 

Netton, Printer. Uttoxeter. 

Dove ridge, Nov. 1 8th, 1801. 

This advertisement was sent from England 
in a friend's letter. He says, " I was present ; 
the town was all alive." 

We have also a curious article, entitled, 

ORDERS FOR HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS. 

First devised by John Harrington in the year 
1566, and renewed by John Harrington, sonne of 
the saide John, in the year 1592 ; the saide John 
the Sonne being then High Shrieve of the County 
of Somerset : 

Imprimis. — That no servant be absent from 
prayer at morning or evening without a lawful ex- 
cuse, to be alleged within one day after, upon pain 
to forfeit at every time 2d. 



^88 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

2d Item. — That none swear any oath, upon pain 
for every oath id. 

3d Item. — That no man leave any door open that 
he findeth shut, without there be cause, upon pain 
for every time id. 

4th Item. — That none of the men be in bed, from 
our Lady day to Michaelmas, after six of the clock 
in the morning, nor out of his bed after ten of the 
clock of the night ; nor from Michaelmas to our 
Lady Day in bed after 7 in the morning nor out 
after 9 at night, without reasonable excuse, on pain 
of 2d. 

5th Item. — That no man's bed be unmade, nor 
fire or candle-box unclean, after 8 of the clock in 
the morning, on pain of id. 

6th Item. — That no man wait at table without a 
trencher in his hand, except it be upon some good 
cause, on pain of id. 

7th Item. — That no man appointed to wait at my 
table be absent that meal, without reasonable cause, 
on pain of id. 

8th Item. — If any man break a glass, he shall an- 
swer to the price thereof out of his wages, and if 
it be not known who broke it, the butler shall pay 
for it, on pain of i2d. 

9th Item. — The table must be covered half an 
hour before 11 at dinner, and 6 at supper, or before, 
on pain of 2d. 



HARRINGTON'S ORDERS. 89 

loth Item, — That meat be ready at 11 or before 
at dinner and 6 or before at supper, under pain 
of 6d. 

nth Item. — That none be absent without leave 
or good cause the whole day, or any part of it, on 
pain of 4d. 

1 2th Item. — That no man strike his fellow, on 
pain of loss of service, nor revile, or threaten, or 
provoke another to strike, on pain of i2d. 

13th Item. — That no man come to the kitchen 
without reasonable cause, on pain of id., and the 
cook likewise to forfeit id. 

14th Item. — That no man teach any of the chil- 
dren any unhonest speech, or oath, or bad word, on 
pain of 4d. 

15th. — That none toy with the maids, on pain 
of 4d. 

1 6th. — That no man wear foul shirt on Sunday, 
nor broken hose or shoes, or doublet without but- 
tons, on pain of id. 

J 7th Item. — That when any stranger goes hence 
the chamber be dressed up again within four hours 
after, on pain of id. 

1 8th. — That the hall be made clean every day by 
8 in the winter and 7 in the summer, on pain of him 
that should do it to forfeit id. 

19th Item. — That the court- gate be shut each 
meal, and not opened during dinner or supper with- 



90 DUTIES OF SERVANTS. 

out just cause, on pain the porter to forfeit for 
every time id. 

2oth Item. — That all stayrs in the house and 
other rooms that need shall require, may be made 
clean on Friday after dinner, on pain of foi;feiture 
of every one whom it shall belong unto 3d. 

All which sums shall be duly paid each quarter 
day out of their wages, and bestowed on the poor 
or other Godly use. 

These directions of 1566 and 1592 look like 
order and regularity. The objection seems to 
be that these servants are expected to pay a 
higher forfeit for the breaking of a glass than 
for untidiness or immorality. They had a 
higher civilization in one respect than we 
have — that no interruption at meals was al- 
lowed — but the forfeit was but id. A penny, 
however, had greater weight then than now. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE KITCHEN. 

Some suggestions with regard to the kitchen 
may be useful. Not receipts for the making 
of dishes ; there are too many of these books 
already, many puzzling and misleading to say 
nothing more of their unwholesome tendencies. 
The Modem Hotisewife^ by Alexis Soyer, a 
translation published by D. Appletion & Co. in 
1850, I have found always useful in my own 
household. His receipts are from long experi- 
ence and are tasteful, careful, direct and eco- 
nomical. One of my family thinks very highly 
of Mrs. Beton's book, an English publication. 

There can be no good cooking without care 
and neatness, perfect cleanliness of the cooking 

91 



92 THE KITCHEN. 

utensils, watchful attention during the pro- 
gress of cooking, clean range, flues free from 
dust, and ovens well brushed out. 

To broil a steak or chop to perfection, to 
boil potatoes white and mealy, is a proof of 
good cooking because the)' retjuire constant 
care. To make good bread always, with the 
same result, shows painstaking and intelli- 
gence. 

Before broiling, the gridiron should be placed 
on the range, and when hot, rubbed with a 
crust of bread. No matter how well the grid- 
iron has been washed, the bread will be black. 
This black is better on the bread than on the 
meat. 

In boiling potatoes, when the water is boil- 
ing with the salt in it (half a cup of salt to a 
gallon of boiling water), the potatoes having 
been chosen as nearly of one size as possible, 
p<ircd with neatness, and bleached in cold water 



r OTA TOES. 93 

for two hours ; should be dropped in, one by one 
not <-o stop the boiling. Boil at a gallop fif- 
teen or twenty mintutes, according to the size 
of the potatoes, pour off the water, shake up 
the potatoes, and put a clean cloth over them, 
to absorb the steam as it rises, and steam them 
for fifteen or twenty minutes, or throw them 
into a colander, and place the colander over 
the pot to steam. If the metal cover is put on, 
the steam forms into drops and falls back upon 
the potatoes. 

When young and new they should be scraped 
and rubbed with a coarse cloth (never pealed), 
and thrown into boiling water ojie by one and 
boiled rapidly till done, and steamed as before 
directed. 

Potatoes called '* Irish Potatoes " we owe to 
South America where the plant grows wild, 
and where it was cultivated long before its in- 
troduction to Europe in 1588. 



94 THE KITCHEN, 

To make bread is a very simple matter. In 
early house-keeping we had suffered so much 
from bad bread, that, being in the house of a 
woman in Vermont, where we had always the 
finest bread, I asked her to teach me how to 
make it. I learned from her, and it has been 
a great comfort not only to me, but to many 
others. I give you the exact direction not 
only to make bread, but to make yeast. There 
are many kinds of yeast-powders, yeast-cakes, 
etc., used I believe, but I know nothing about 
them and cannot, therefore, judge of their 
excellence. 

*' Here is bread, which strengthens man's 
heart, and therefore called the staff of life." 

As the most essential thing in making good 
bread is the yeast, it is better to make it at 
home, though brewer's or baker's yeast may be 
used. To make yeast, pare two large potatoes 
and cut them in thin slices, and put them with 



WHITE BREAD. 95 

a large cupful of dried hops into three pints of 
boiling water; let them boil till the potatoes 
can be mashed with a wooden spoon. Put into 
a stone or ware jar a quart of sifted flour, and 
after stirring the liquid thoroughly, pour through 
the sieve all that will go through of the pota- 
toes and hops. Mix the flour and liquid well. 
Set the jar aside till the yeast is luke-warm ; 
add half a pint of old or baker's yeast ; let it 
rise for 24 hours ; put it in stone jugs, half full, 
and cork tight, and put the jugs into a cool 
place. 

To Make White Bread. 
Sift three quarts of flour into a bread-pan of 
wood or tin. Add to the flour three teaspoons- 
ful of salt. Make a hole in the middle, and put 
half a pint of yeast into it. Put in a pitcher a 
quart of new milk, or a quart of lukewarm water, 
with a piece of butter in it the size of an ^^%. 



96 THE KITCHEN. 

Pour from the pitcher, gradually mixing with 
a wooden spoon from the centre, until you have 
absorbed all the flour. Some flour requires 
more milk or water, some less, but you must 
pour gradually till the flour is absorbed, and 
not a wet dough. Cover the pan with a clean 
cloth kept for the purpose, and then the cover 
(if there is no cover a thicker cloth), and put 
it in a moderately warm place to rise. In sum- 
mer bread should be mixed early in the morn- 
ing, for it will rise in 5 or 6 hours, and as soon 
as it is risen well, and the bubbles appear on 
the top, it should be kneaded. In winter the 
last thing at night, and it will probably be ready, 
by the time the ovens are hot enough in the 
morning for kneading. When risen, knead it 
for ten minutes, make it into loaves, butter the 
pans, put the bread into them, half filling them, 
set the pans on the hearth, and let the bread 
rise in them for half an hour before putting 



GRAHAM BREAD. 97 

them into the oven. It will take from an hour 
and a quarter to an hour and a-half to bake in a 
moderately heated oven. When apparently- 
done turn the loaves bottom upward for ten 
minutes in the oven. When it is taken out of 
the oven, let the loaves stand upon a table, 
covering the loaves with a cloth till the bread 
is cold. Bread should not be cut the same day 
it is baked. Could I persuade my fellow coun- 
trymen and women not to eat hot bread, or 
bread made with soda or saleratus, I should 
have done a great good. I believe it to be one 
of the causes of dyspepsia, indigestion, pale 
skins and bad teeth. It must be of hot bread 
that Shakespeare writes in Henry V, '* Gets 
him to bed crammed with distressful bread." 

To Make Graham Bread, or Bread of Unbolted Flour. 
The same receipt, but that Graham flour re- 
quires more yeast (3 gills instead of half a 



98 THE KITCHEN. 

pint), and when risen, before kneading, add ^ 
a pint of good New Orleans or Santa Cruz 
molasses. Of late years the good old " sugar- 
house " molasses is rare. 

Graham bread is made like white bread with 
two exceptions. It takes half as much again 
yeast (3 gills), and ^ pint molasses. 

Rice. 

A most desirable food for children and to 
be boiled much like potatoes, rice was long 
known in the East before its introduction into 
Europe. It was introduced into Carolina about 
the year 1697, and the Carolina rice is now far 
superior to the India rice. It grows in marshy 
and inundated lands. The Chinese and Japan- 
ese are almost dependent upon it for food. In 
the East Indies it is called " paddy." The 
inhabitants of the East distil from it an intoxi- 
cating liquor called " rak." 



RICE. 99 

To three pints of boiling water put a quarter 
of a cup of salt. To this add half a pint of 
rice, which has been washed in several waters 
till the water is clear. Boil the rice for fifteen 
minutes, pour off the water, and cover the rice 
with a clean cloth, to steam ; or throw it into 
a colander. Boil fifteen minutes and steam 
twenty, and throw the rice into the dish in 
which it is to be served. The rice should be 
dry, mealy, and every grain separate. 

Cold rice can be heated with a little milk, a 
small piece of butter and one or two eggs well 
beaten, making a very pretty dish for break- 
fast — of a pale yellow color. 

Heated with milk, butter, and from four to 
six eggs and a teaspoonful of flour, it makes 
very nice breakfast cakes, whether baked in 
mufifin rings, or upon the griddle, which should 
be (if of soapstone) rubbed with salt and not 
with butter. The cakes are more wholesome. 
If an iron griddle it must be buttered. 



lOO 77/ A' A //■(■// /'.N. 

Roastiu}^. 

I'o roasi iiUMiis to took />(/i>rt- llic lire iidf in 
.'III oviii. r..il.((l meals arc of a very (liiTfrcnt 
llavor Iroin ro.isliMl mcil'.. U oast iii!';, within 
my rccolU'tt ion, w.r. done with a sniokc-jaclc. 
The jack was |)ut thronj;h the iiric ks ol tlic 
( himnc)', witli a i cvol vin;; wheel wit Inn, with 
fans, — wllieli wlieel was tnriied h\' the hcate(i 
air risinj; in the ( liinme)'. ()ntsi(le w.is a 

\\he<'' witll a <iee|) j'.ioove, over whiiil was 
passed tiie (hain whi( li lonnected with thi; 
.spit heiow, al'.o iiavinj; a wiieel with .i i;roove 
in it the si)it s.n|)|)< »i t ed on the otiiei .si(h' 
l>y a standaid in wiiich it tnrnid. I'wo oi" 
three tlnnj's conid he roastid at one lime on 
this spit, ea( Ii with it', tin tia\' to lalih the 
^ravy ; a loMini; tin seicen held and iclleeted 
the heat. Miieli hakin;; was done in pots with 
three h'j'.s, nnder wiiieli, and on the eo\'i'r of 
wliii h, were- hu koiy loak-;. I'he ovtMi was of 



ROASTING. lOI 

brick at the side of the fire-place, heated by 
logs of wood burnt in it, then brushed out, and 
cake and pastry first baked, and then bread. 

Later a Rumford oven was used, very much, 
in its operation, like the range ovens now, with 
dampers, and heated by a fire underneath. I 
remember the introduction of the Rumford 
oven as rather an innovation. It was called 
the '^ Rumford " oven because invented by 
Count Rumford, who was a native of New 
England. He was made a Lieutenant-General 
and Count Rumford for various and many ser- 
vices rendered by him to the King of Bavaria. 
His name was Benjamin Thompson. 

The best modern way of roasting is the 
bottle-jack, which is wound up, and the meats 
turn without stopping. It may be done in a 
dutch-oven, as it is called, but this has the dis- 
advantage of being dependant upon the cook 
to turn it as frequently as it should be turned. 



102 THE KITCHEN. 

No meats or poultry should be washed be- 
fore roasting, broiling, or frying. If they are 
washed, a steaming process begins before the 
roasting and destroys the proper result. . 

Dark meats require no basting — white meats 
and poultry a great deal — but no water. Wa- 
ter is good for washing dishes, boiling what- 
ever is to be boiled, but weakens everything 
into which it is put, and used in roasting, bak- 
ing, broiling, frying, soddens the meat and 
makes it unwholesome. 

For gravies there should be a stock made 
and kept ready. It can be made from bones. 

For white sauces there should be a stock 
made of veal, or the bones of poultry, kept 
ready for use. 

For drawn butter, no water but milk, always 

milk. An ^^^ well-beaten stirred in, enriches 
its taste and color. 



FRYING. 103 

Frying. 
To fry means to put meat or whatever is 
to be fried mto boiling fat, boiling at the high- 
est degree. Sauter, as the French call it, is 
only to have some fat, butter, or olive oil boil- 
ing, and put what you have upon it, turning 
till done. Omelettes, eggs, etc., are saut^, 
but frying means to plunge the meat, etc., 
into fat. It is a rare excellence in America 
to fry well. The French understand it, but 
the use of water in American kitchens comes 
much in the way of good cooking, and the 
croton faucets make the use of it very tempt- 
ing. 



CHAPTER IX, 
SPINACH FISH — TEA-MAKING. 

The well cooking of spinach is rare, so I give 
the direction : 

Take from the leaves of the spinach all the 
stalks, wash the leaves in several waters, shake 
them well out, and put them into a saucepan 
without watery and a little salt. They throw 
out water enough to boil themselves. When 
tender, throw them into a colander and pound 
them through the holes. One might cook a bush- 
el of spinach at once, put into a mould and cut 
it off as it is wanted. The French sometimes 
make a stack of it. It is better for standing 
and should be heated with salt and butter, and 

served with little bits of toast. 

104 



TEA, 105 

An old French abbe was in the habit of put- 
ting a padlock on the spinach pot that he 
might not be defrauded of the flavor of the 
old spinach. You will, perhaps, remember, 
that in the introduction to Quentin Durward, 
that " what the old maitre d' Hotels valued 
himself upon, as something superb, was an im- 
mense assiette of spinach not smoothed to a 
uniform surface as by our uninaugurated cooks, 
but swelling into hills and declining into 
vales, over which swept a gallant stag pursued 
by a pack of hounds artificially cut of toasted 
bread." 

How to make Tea. 
Tea can be made well only by having a kettle 
which is used for nothing else, a sediment is then 
impossible. The kettle should be filled with 
cold-filtered water, and the moment it boils 
scald the tea-pot and make the tea. If the 



io6 riiK Km J I EN. 

water stands after boilinjj;, the tea is never clear. 
Scald ihf tea-pot, put in three heapini; tea- 
spoonfuls to a (|uart of boiling water. Li-t it 
stand .ihoul cii^hL uiinuti-s and pour it out. 
In wintt-r, a folded na[>kiii shoidd be thrown 
ovir the tea pot that the heat may not t'seapc\ 

II tlic tr.i-pot is o( thina of wart:, it should 
be set upon the hearth that it may be well 
heati'd belon- the tea is made. 

'The Japane-.e make tiu'ir tea in a eu[) and 
drild-v it almost immediately. 

The ("hinese make it in one pot, and when 
tlrawn j)our it into anothei to avoid too strong 
a detoetion. I ha\'e sein a ( himse tea pot of 
their jxeuliar biown ware, with an elont;.ited, 
perfoiated bowl fittinijf into the top of tlu^ tea- 
])ot. Into this the tea leaves were i)nt, and the 
j)ot fdled with boilin;^" watc-r. After a few mo- 
ments the bowl t.d<en out, .uid the ccjver put 
on. 



I'lsii. 107 

Fish. 

W(j have, probably, in New York, the finest 
fish market in the worKl, and fish is often sadly 
abused in the preparation and cooknig. Cut- 
ting off the heads and tails of fish is a barbar- 
ism. The most delicate part of a cod is the 
meat about the eye. To boil fish it should be 
placed upon the drainer of the fish kettle and 
plun-.>e(l into water, boiling at the highest de- 
gree, into which one half a cup of salt and half 
a cup of vinegar has been put. Jioiled at a 
gallop, and when free frcjin the bone the fish is 
done. Lift the drainer and try whether the 
meat is free from the bone at the back of the 
fish. The drainer is placed across the kettle 
for the fish to drain, 

Mr. Isaac Walton quotes from Du Bartas in 
liis complete angler : 

God quickened in the sea, and in the rivers 
So many fishes of so many features, 



I08 THE KITCHEN. 

That in the water we may see all creatures; 
Even all that on the earth are to be found, 
As if the world were in deep waters drowned. 



I must give you Isaac Walton's receipt for 
cooking pike. He says: ''This dish of meat 
is too good for any but anglers, or very honest 
men ; and I trust you will prove both, and 
therefore, I have trusted you with this secret. 

" Open the pike at the gills, and if need be, 
cut also a slit towards the belly. Out of these 
take the guts. Keep his liver ; which you are 
to shred very small with thyme^ sweet mar- 
joram and a little white savoury ; to these put 
some pickled oysters and two or three ancho- 
vies, these last whole, for the anchovies will 
melt, and the oysters should not. To these 
you must add a pound of sweet butter which 
you are to mix with the herbs that are shred 
and let them all be well salted. If the pike be 
more than a yard long then you may put into 



FISH, 109 

these herbs more than a pound, or if he be 
less, then less butter will suffice. These with 
a blade or two of mace must be put into the 
pike's belly, and then his belly sewed up to 
keep the butter in. But take not off the scales. 
Then you are to thrust the spit thro' his 
mouth and out at his tail. Take four, five or 
six split sticks or thin laths, and a convenient 
quantity of tape, and bind the laths round the 
pike's body from his head to his tail, to pre- 
vent his breaking on the spit. Let him be 
roasted leisurely and often basted with claret 
wine, anchovies and butter, and with what 
moisture falls in the pan. When roasted, you 
are to hold him over the dish you purpose to 
eat him out of; cut the tapes and let him fall 
into the dish unbroken and complete. You 
are to add a fit quantity of the best butter to 
the sauce in the pan, and the juice of four 
oranges. You may add garlic, but this is left 
to your discretion." 



CHAPTER X. 
CHILDREN. 

Babies and Motherhood. 

A subject which I approach with doubt and 
reverence. There are so many inheritances 
from generations before, moral, physical and 
mental, that it is almost impossible to lay down 
rules ; but there are always the same duties of 
prevention and assistance^ of love, sympathy 
and endurance. 

A mother's duties begin long before the 
birth of her child, in keeping herself in good 
condition of mind and body, in avoiding un- 
natural excitements, taking proper exercise, 
eating wholesome food, and, in short, acting 

with common sense with regard to the result. 

no 



BABIES, 1 1 1 

There is nothing in her condition, unless she 
be an invalid, when she deserves the greatest 
care and sympathy, to prevent her performing 
most of the duties or taking the pleasures that 
she can under ordinarv circumstances ; but let 
her avoid fatigue which is dangerous. For a 
strong and well woman to lie about, dress care- 
lessly, and make her condition an excuse for 
neglecting her duties and disarranging her 
household is unpardonable. Every one we see 
has been born ; if it were so difficult a matter 
some other way would have been found for 
bringing children into the world. The great 
suffering and pangs of child-birth are, like many 
other provisions of nature, incomprehensible to 
us, but they are, no doubt, much increased by 
the artificial life we lead, and by conventional 
restraints of clothes and habits. They are, 
however, natural sufferings, and can, usually, 
be borne without bad after results, and are, 



112 CHILDREN: 

fortunately, forgotten with the sight of the 
the child, the new man or woman brought into 
the world in an instant transformed into a liv- 
ing " soul/' We know very little what the 
word " soul " means. We can feel it, however, 
if we cannot explain it. 

Now is the time for lying down, taking rest, 
becoming strong and able to perform the new 
duties. Let no foolish vanity or impatience 
tempt the young mother to make exertions 
which may weaken her for life. The month of 
confinement is a blessing, for one has ti'me to 
become acquainted with the new care, and to 
realize, in some degree, the future responsibili- 
ties. Some mothers never realize them. 

After the birth of the child, the mother, no 
matter how strong she may be, should be kept 
in perfect quiet for five days ; no visiting, no 
talking in her room ; absolute freedom from 
all outward excitements. Friends who have 



BABIES, 113 

waited nine months to see the new comer may 
wait, patiently, a few days longer, and would 
undoubtedly be glad to do so^ were they con- 
vinced that it is best. 

Leave the mother and her child to them- 
selves. Their welfare and future comfort de- 
pend much upon it. If the mother is not 
strong, then ten days of quiet. 

Let this little new being never regret that it 
has been brought into the world. Let it learn 
looks of love, sympathy, tenderness and gen- 
tleness from your face. Let its rest be at your 
side, until it can make its wants understood. 
If you cannot bear the trouble and wakeful- 
ness, do not expect a hired nurse to do so. 
Some mothers may not have the strength, and, 
for their childrens' sake, must devolve such 
care upon another; let it be done with watch- 
fulness. 

If you have the comfort of being able to 



I 14 CHILDREN, 

nurse your children, it must be done with regu- 
larity ; first at two hours' interval, then three, 
then four. It is safe to say every two hours 
the first two months, then three, and if a hearty 
baby at four months, once in four hours is 
often enough. Every engagement must yield 
to this duty, if you wish your child to have 
good digestion, good temper and undisturbed 
sleep. You must also have the self-denial not 
to eat anything which may disagree with you 
and affect the milk. A bowl of gruel at night 
is better than oysters, salad and ice cream, 
which are often taken at evening parties, and 
at such late hours as would be, in themselves, 
sufficient to condemn the practice. While the 
baby is nursing is a good time for reading. By 
having a book always at hand a mother may 
gain many an hour's reading. 

If a mother cannot nurse a child herself, my 
preference would always be to feed it either 



BABIES. 1 1 5 

with a spoon or with a bottle. From a nurse 
a child must draw much of the peculiarities of 
constitution. If, from necessity, from delicacy of 
health, or for any sufficient reason, a child must 
have a wet nurse, let the woman be carefully 
examined by a physician, and her milk analysed 
before giving a child into her care. If fed with 
a bottle, the most watchful care should be given 
to the freshness and purity of the bottle. It 
should be scalded as soon as used, and left in 
cold water or in the air till needed again. 

Babies can hardly be kept too warm ; flan-, 
nel round the body in some form, till after 
teething; warm feet and cool heads; plenty 
of fresh air; not too much light, especially 
while sleeping; perfect cleanliness, and to be 
let alone. If a baby from its birth is laid 
upon its back after bathing, dressing or nurs- 
ing, it will go to sleep, or lie awake happy and 
contented with a passing word, and it is much 



Il6 CHILDREN. 

more likely to have a strong back and straight 
legs then when rocked and tended, or placed 
upon a lap not long enough to support it. 
There are, of course, times when a baby may 
require tending and soothing, but, as a rule, 
they should be let alone as much as possible. 

It is usually the bequest of monthly nurses 
to leave .children as troublesome as possible. 
Make an agreement with them from the first, 
that they are to let the babies alone except in 
performing their necessary duties. 

Do not make the bathing of a baby an ex* 
posure. In almost all weathers, not oppress 
sively warm, it is better to bathe babies before 
a fire. The head, ears, face and neck should 
be washed and dried while wrapped in its 
blanket, then the little body, under the arms, 
legs and feet, soaped, put into its tepid bath, 
washed off quickly and thoroughly, taken out 
in a blanket or large flannel apron, dried quickly 



DISCIPLINE. 117 

and well, powdered with sifted starch (powder 
is often adulterated) and dressed. A baby 
should be nursed or fed after its bath and not 
before. The baby may cry v/ith impatience, 
but crying is the proper exercise of the lungs, 
and its only mode of expression. 

Beware of so-called discipline. Teach a child 
obedience by its understanding, that when you 
say no, you mean no. It saves a child from a 
world of doubt, perplexity and uncertainty. 
To be uncertain what one can or ought to do, 
is a great evil to grown people, and, with a 
child, if submission is not always cheerful, it 
is soon understood to be a necessity. Chil- 
dren are, usually, happy as the day is long 
even under the most adverse circumstances, if 
not interfered with. The happiness of chil- 
dren is not something to be procured and pre- 
pared for them like their daily food ; but a 
something they already possess, and with 



Il8 CHILDREN, 

which wc need not concern ourselves any 
furtlier lli.in to see that they are not despoiled 
of it. Little children are sometimes fretful, 
impatient, crying and uncomfortable, when 
they need a comforting hug, a caress, a sooth- 
ing word, even a drink of cold water — not 
threats nor harsli words. We have apostolic 
authority for this (Ephesians VI. 9), " Forbear- 
ing threatening." 

Teach children to come to you for comfort 
and relief. A diversion to some object or play 
may ward off a fit of temper. Let love be the 
rule with little children. 

A young mother with her little boy of 
twenty months old was breakfasting with me 
the other morning ; the child had eaten as 
many grapes as were good for him, but was 
determined to have more ; he screamed, 
reached for them, was resolute. The mamma 
quietly took him from his chair, struggling. 



DISCIPLINE. 1 19 

walked into another room with him, tried to 
divert him with the sliding doors and looking 
out of the window, but he got out of her arms 
and pulled away from her, and ran into the 
corner. His mamma returned to the breakfast 
table. Presently the little fellow appeared at 
the door of the room, and said, " morning." 
We all welcomed his return, and he was 
again lifted into his high chair, but there 
was no further question about the grapes. 
This would have been an occasion for so- 
called discipline. He understood that '* No" 
meant " No." 

Little children have objects for the moment. 
Let them pursue them without interruption. 
A child, before it can talk, is toddling after a 
ball, the nurses snatches him at the moment 
to be washed and dressed, and the poor child 
is thrown into a violent passion. It is imme- 
diately supposed to be naughty and trouble- 



120 CHILDREN. 

some, and here is another opportunity for dis- 
cipline. 

Never strike a child. It is an easy way of 
trying to teach submission, but is often utterly 
useless or worse. It is usually done with 
anger and impatience, and is not calculated 
to inspire love or respect for the parent or self 
control in the child, to say nothing of its being 
cowardly. I fully agree with the little boy 
who, after taking a whipping manfully, said, 
" If I wanted to whip a fellow, I'd find one of 
my own size." Expect children to do what 
is right as a matter of course, and they are 
more likely not to go wrong to say the least. 
No bribes, no rewards for doing their duty. 

Don't ask questions, and never exact prom- 
ises. Children are taught falsehood and deceit 
by threatening looks and questions. Children, 
with rare exceptions, are by nature truthful 
and trusting. Lying is deliberately taught, 



MO THER' S INFL UENCE. 1 2 1 

and in most cases is the result of fear in young 
children. 

Never make a bug-bear of your husband 
with ''What will papa say?" ''I'll tell your 
father," etc., etc. The care and direction of 
little children belong to the mother. Her in- 
fluence and word should be sufficient, and her 
task is easier where there is no appeal. Let 
the father (especially if he is a man of busi- 
ness) have all the enjoyment he has time for 
with his little children in his hours of leisure ; 
they will need all his sympathy and influence 
as they grow older. 

In a conversation between Napoleon and 
Madame de Stael on the subject of education, 
Madame de Stael said : " The influence of the 
mother is important." Napoleon said : '' You 
have there a system of education in one word, 
the mother." I cannot remember where I read 
this, and may not quote the words correctly. 



122 CHILDREN. 

Occupation and freedom from checking are 
among the great secrets of happiness with chil- 
dren. I once heard a fidgetty mother, who was 
constantly finding fault, appeal to her hostess 
as to whether the little girl did not annoy her, 
and was glad to hear her say (though very im- 
polite) *' She does not, but you do." 

A child under two or three years of age will 
amuse itself day after day with a crooked stick, 
the handle of a broom, a tin mug without a 
bottom, a string of empty spools, a handful of 
pebbles, and invests them with a meaning of 
which we do not dream. These are far better 
than costly toys, which can only be changed by 
being broken, and the power of change is the 
charm of imagination. They are tranquilly 
happy if not interfered with, and " it is a great 
thing only to have known by experience that 

tranquil, temperate felicity is actually attain- 
able on earth." 



CHAPTER XL 

CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

Do not allow dress to interfere with this 

" tranquil felicity," nor mourn over soiled or 

torn dresses. A dozen plain little frocks may 

be washed and ironed in the same time that it 

will take to '' do up " one of modern finery, 

with fluted ruffles and lace. Such dress is the 

bane of little children's existence. It costs a 

great deal, and should be taken care of and not 

abused ; but if you consider it necessary to 

have such dress for occasions, or to be equal 

with your neighbors, take care of it, I pray, in 

a bureau drawer. Children do not need such 

adornment. It is a mere vanity, and a very 

123 



124 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

bad example. Let children be scrupulously 
clean and tasteful, but never fine. 

Little children should be put to bed in the 
middle of the day till five years old. They re- 
quire rest from their constant activity, then 
taken up, washed, dressed and prepared for 
their dinner, and allow no eating between 
meals. Much restlessness is avoided by this 
rule, and good digestion preserved. If a child 
is delicate and requires more frequent food, let 
it be given at a stated hour as a lunch. The 
dinner should be wholesome, attractive, well 
served and well cooked, the mamma presiding. 
Many a pleasant hour for children the dinner 
may secure. 

God has placed us in families. Let us feel 
and prove ourselves grateful for so great a gift, 
and remember, that from these families, of 
whatever grade or position, all the influence 
of the world comes. No man or woman ever 



EA RL V IMP RE SSIONS. 1 2 5 

outlives the influence of these early years ; they 
are the most important of life. Locke says : 

I think I may say that of all the men we meet 
with, nine parts often are what they are, good or 
evil, useful or not, by their education. The little 
or almost insensible impressions on our tender in- 
fancies have very important consequences ; and 
there it is, as in the fountains of rivers where a 
gentle application of the hand turns flexible waters 
into channels that make them take quite contrary 
courses ; and, by this little direction given them, 
at first and in the source, they receive different 
tendencies, and arrive, at last, at very remote dis- 
tant places ; imagine the minds of children as easily 
turned this way or that as water itself. 

Dugald Stewart says : 

From the intimate and almost indissoluble com- 
binations which we are led to form in infancy and 
early youth may be traced many of our speculative 
errors ; many of our most powerful principles of 
action ; many perversions of our moral judgment 
and many of those prejudices which mislead us in 
the conduct of life. 

" What permanent effects are produced on the 
happiness and character of individuals by the 
casual associations formed in childhood among the 



126 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

various ideas, feelings and affections with which 
they were habitually occupied. 

Atmosphere is education — the atmosphere 
that surrounds children, not the number of 
lessons learned. Education consists in the 
training of the mind, not in studying or read- 
ing a certain number of books. One may 
have read many books, and possess many ac- 
complishments, and yet be ignorant. He who 
can think clearly, feel rightly, and distinguish 
with discrimination, is the educated man. 

The society of servants is not good for chil- 
dren. Keep them as much as possible with 
yourself ; let them always have free access to 
you. Let them understand that the drawing- 
room is for their benefit as well as yours. 
Children are imitative and observing, and will 
adopt the manners of those with whom they 
live. Children in America (I speak of them 
in a mass) are usually considered privileged 



RESPECT TO ELDERS. 12 J 

characters; they become a nuisance to strangers 
and to all not personally interested in them. 
It is all wrong. Children are very much under- 
rated. They are capable of being the pleas- 
antest companions, of fully comprehending 
that they are a part of the society in which 
they find themselves, and of conducting them- 
selves appropriately, if they are accepted on 
that footing. Treat them with common sense. 
Do not talk of children before them, making 
them believe that they are quite wonderful 
because they have the usual human faculties ; 
nor treat them like toys, and dress them for 
exhibitions. 

Enforce respect and consideration to teach- 
ers. If you are willing to accept a person as 
instructor to your children, he or she should 
be worthy of their respect and deference. In- 
sist upon kindness and politeness to servants. 

Children should be the blessings of life ; a 



128 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

great care, a great responsibility, but we have 
the highest authority, that "• of such are the 
Kingdom of Heaven." 

Children are easily taught to read as a 
pleasure, not a task. I have seen two chil- 
dren, one on either side of the mother, books 
in one hand and pins in the other, and a black- 
board in front, looking for all the " its " and 
" ofs " on the page, a chase for the largest 
number, and then writing the words on the 
board with a piece of chalk. It and of mean 
something, and are quite as easy as b-a ba 
and a-b ab. This makes reading easy, and 
leads easily to the larger words. 

Children soon learn to handle the chalk with 
ease. A little fellow, not four years old, had 
made a line of P's across the black-board ; the 
first few and the last few were good, the mid- 
dle ones very uncertain in their poise. Upon 
being remonstrated with, he said, '' Don't 



LESSONS. 129 

laugh at them, they are my poor sick P's." 
The same little boy has just learned " prig ;" 
the next word was pointed out several times 
without attracting his attention, when he said, 
*' I am considering the spelling of * prig.' If 
it hadn't an r, it would be pig." 

I am tempted to translate from a letter of 
X. Doudan's a few words on the subject of the 
education of children : 

Paul then begins to speak like grown people. 
Does he begin to write ? It is best, certainly, to 
urge nothing with so many resources and aids of all 
kinds for learning. If he is a year behind the com- 
mon standard, it will be rather a great good for his 
health than injury to his mind. What should be 
first obtained is the great prize of health. The fac- 
ulties grow all alone, and in these early years a 
little more or less of orthography and chronology is 
of no importance. 

Nature strengthens herself under a little peaceful 
discipline, which limits itself to prevent evil. The 
most precious qualities even of the mind find their 
nourishment not so much in these little villainous 



130 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

elementary books as in the accidents and lively re- 
pose of daily life. 

To hear conversation and thought around one, to 
comprehend, little by little, by seeing and listening 
to what is just, elegant, simple, and elevated, all 
this is learned early or never. Studies which have 
not been painful in the beginning of life become 
more certainly a pleasure in later years. They are 
mingled in the memory with all the innocent pleas- 
ures and leisure hours of imagination. More people 
would love Virgil if they remembered reading the 
first pages without being urged or well scolded while 
the gay sun shone into the room, and the bees 
buzzed about the windows or settled upon the 
book where their life is related two thousand years 
ago. Provided minds gain force and truth and 
color, is it not well to leave them to vegetate at first 
in that half sleep, so happy, where all is blended — 
the affections of the family, the pleasure of loving, 
of learning, of doing nothing ? Later Paul will re- 
call altogether your step in the adjoining room, the 
benevolent gravity of Mr. H., the mountains of 
Greece which he shows him on the map, the little 
noise of the lake near the house, his rabbits who 
run, and the natural history which he is taught. 
All the most serious instructions, all the most frivo- 
lous incidents as well as the most lively feelings will 
mingle inseparably in the /memory which will pre- 



LESSONS. 131 

serve days so sweet. It is from such depths all will 
come — imagination, morality, the direction of taste. 
Forced studies, the feeling of fatigue and ennui will 
destroy all this strong and amiable chain of remem- 
brances. Here is a discourse in favor of idleness ! 
but, however, of that moral idleness which leaves 
the trees to grow tranquilly on the border of beauti- 
ful waters without shaking them to make the sap rise. 

Children should not be kept sitting at their 
lessons for more than two or three hours at a 
time, and above all things let them not learn 
words which they do not understand, rules 
which they can never apply, and get their 
minds confused, till lessons become a trial and 
stupidity is taught. Spelling is best taught by 
dictation. Read clearly and distinctly to chil- 
dren from some good author, and let them 
write from the dictation ; pick out the badly 
spelt words, and let them write them over two 
or three times. They are rarely forgotten. 

I would teach children languages as they 
learn their own, by the sound, committing to 



132 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

memory, reading them aloud and learning what 
the words mean. 

" It is a matter of the greatest satisfaction " 
says Mr. Emerson, '' that the only true mode 
of learning language, the natural one, by word 
of .mouth from living teachers, is becoming 
common ; the language itself first and after- 
wards the philosophy of it, the rules. It is 
most desirable that this mode of learning the 
ancient languages should be introduced, to 
learn first the language, to read and understand 
it, and afterwards the rules. Indeed, I would 
not recommend the study even of Greek, if 
most or much of the time given to it had to be 
thrown away upon the grammar. The true 
mode, Agassiz's mode of teaching on all sub- 
jects, is becoming more and more common." 

It has become a fashion to have French 
nurses, that children may learn to speak the 
French language. This is usually a failure in 



LESSONS. 133 

two directions. With rare exception the 
French spoken by the nurse is bad, and chil- 
dren acquire an accent not easily eradicated. 
The strongest impressions of language are re- 
ceived in early life, and the mingling of the 
two languages injures the English accent. We 
should not engage an English, American or 
Irish nurse to teach our children English, why 
teach them doubtful French ? 

Let children learn to speak their own lan- 
guage. It is a rare accomplishment to speak 
English elegantly, correctly, or even grammati- 
cally, and when one hears English spoken with 
a sweet chest voice, with good enunciation 
and purity of language it is charming, one 
stops to listen. It stamps the speaker as well 
bred, well educated, and of good early associa- 
tions. 

Let your children become acquainted with 
the English classics ; let them, read the best 



134 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

English authors, let them commit to memory 
the best poetry, it will be a pleasure through 
life. 

At the age of nine or ten these children can 
begin to study French, Italian, German or 
Spanish, under educated teachers with great 
advantage, and will be able to understand the 
peculiarities of the languages and to be directed 
in the acquisition of them. In engaging teach- 
ers of English have a regard to their accent 
and intonation, and beware of nasality. The 
study of Latin should be begun at an early 
age with both girls and boys ; it aids them very 
much in the better comprehension of English 
and other languages. 

In the acquisition of language, there is an 
excellent exercise and one which is a pleasure 
to children. Give them for one instance ** sky ;" 
what adjectives can be applied to sky? It may 
be spoken of as serene, stormy, clear, overcast, 



LESSONS. 135 

gloomy, lowering, bright, resplendent, brilliant, 
deep, dull, red, gray, blue, vaulted, boundless, 
etc. Yet more adjectives may be applied to 
clouds. They may be thick, thin, heavy, light, 
dark, fleecy, fleaky, massive, dense, stormy, rush- 
ing, flying, flitting, motionless, broken, scattered, 
condensed, piled, lowering, cold, silvery, fringed, 
rainy, snowy, gathering, clearing, electric, etc., 
etc. I gained this idea from Isaac Taylor, and 
it is fully illustrated in the Falls of Lodore, by 
Southey, showing how many descriptive words 
may be used for water. This is an amusing 
and useful game for children. 

As a study of verbs. What can the eye do ? 
see, discern, descry, contemplate, gaze upon, 
etc. What can a boy do ? walk, run, swim, 
creep, jump, leap, spring, climb, advance, re- 
tire, slide, bow, ride, dance, stumble, strike, lift, 
carry, bring, etc., etc. 

Children should, if possible, be taught to 



136 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

dance at an early age. It gives them ease of 
motion in every way, free use of their limbs, 
besides being a great pleasure and good exer- 
cise, and boys, when they are old enough 
should be taught to fence, but boys and girls 
should be prevented from overtasking their 
strength, lifting heavy weights, taking too long 
walks, or skating for too many hours in suc- 
cession, etc., etc. All fatigue and over exer- 
tion should be avoided with growing children. 
Very little children are often seriously injured 
by long walks, and by being allowed to walk at 
too early an age. Parents sometimes forget 
that walking and speaking are not accomplish- 
ments, but natural functions. 

Teach children to be useful ; they enjoy the 
sense of being useful to themselves and others. 
A great deal that is afterward taught with diffi- 
culty is thus a source of great pleasure to the 
child. I speak not only of girls but boys. Let 



CHILDREN'S BOOKS. 13/ 

them have a care in the household, and above 
all things, inculcate a sense of responsibility. 
I remember two little girls of five and six, 
whose duty it was on Saturday to collect and 
divide the clothes for the wash ; and having 
taken out those that required mending, the 
older one sat down and wrote a list while the 
younger one counted them. It was always 
correct ; they had a pride in their work. Do 
not allow children to lift and carry about chil- 
dren younger than themselves, if you wish to 
preserve them straight and well formed. 

What are called *' children's books " not only 
do harm but show a very false estimate of the 
capacities of children. Stories of bad boys 
and girls often give new, disagreeable, and in- 
jurious suggestions, and stories of good boys 
and girls, as a class, are quite out of daily life 
and the influence uncalled for. The grammar 
of " children's books " is often bad, adapted, as 



138 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

it is supposed, to children's comprehension. 

MotJicr Goose ^ on the contrary, is understood 
to be grotesque, exaggerated, and ridiculous, 
and children like it for these qualities, not be- 
cause they believe the nonsensical and attrac- 
ive stories. Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 
has the same charm, though it has not the ad- 
vantage of having delighted children for a 
century at least. 

The *' original poems," by Ann and Jane 
Taylor, a very old English book, is charming 
to children, but the moral not always accepted. 
I read to a little boy '* careless Eliza," who 
passed over the floor without picking up a pin 
which she saw, with the comment, "' Dear me, 
what signifies a pin ! " The next day 

A party was to ride 

To see an air balloon, 

And all the company beside 

Was dressed and ready soon, 

But poor Eliza was not in 

For want of just one single pin. 



CHILDREN 'S BOOKS. 1 39 

The only comment was : " Why didn't that 
company give her a pin ? " 

There are few children old enough to be 
read to, who cannot comprehend and enjoy 
Hans Andersen's delightful stories ; the old 
fairy tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Bean 
Stalk, Cock Robin, and Jenny Wren, all good 
old English ; the old English ballads of Chevy 
Chase, Babes in the Wood, JoJin Gilpin; Rob- 
inson Crusoe, yEsop's Fables. These I have 
read to children, much to their delight, at four, 
five and six years of age. Then Scott's Tales 
of a Grandfather — almost all his novels — tJie 
Arabian Nights; Mrs. Browning's charming 
Swans Nest. Improve the taste for good 
English, make the ear sensitive to bad gram- 
mar and uneducated phraseology. Washing- 
ton Irving is always a pleasure to little chil- 
dren. His loving, genial nature pervades his 
books, and finds prompt sympathy in them. 



I40 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

His Life of Washington is delightful to chil- 
dren, if read aloud to them. While reading 
this aloud to a party of children one little fel- 
low of five years said, " What has become of 
old Putnam ? We haven't heard of him in two 
days." 

Insist upon politness always. The tendency 
at present, to bad, I may say to no manners 
in the young, makes this suggestion urgent. 
Politeness at home is much more important 
than politeness abroad, for it is an hourly ne- 
cessity, and politeness for occasions is never 
genuine. Like occasional dress it sits uneasily. 
Consideration for the feelings and tastes and 
even prejudices of those around one, respect 
shown by being properly dressed and ready 
for appointed times. No young or old person 
can dress for any one who will care so much 
about it as their parents, husband or wife, 
brothers and sisters. Self-sacrifice in small 



PLA Y.ROOM. 141 

things as well as large, listening politely, in 
fact, no vulgar familiarity, no disregard of the 
conventional rules of society. This promotes 
a tender interest in the general happiness and 
good of the family circle, that nothing else can 
give. 

If possible let children have a play-room be- 
longing to themselves, where they can amuse 
themselves when not engaged in their studies 
or in the open air. Let them have compan- 
ions and associates, but become fully ac- 
quainted with them yourself. 

I have known a family of children, all under 
twelve, who wrote plays, made their dresses and 
scenery, and performed them quite cleverly. 
This called into action many faculties, and was 
an amusement in which both boys and girls 
were fully occupied. 

I would cultivate, if possible, any indication 
of talent in either boys or girls, for music, 



142 CHILDREN UNDER TWELVE. 

drawing, painting, etc. These accomplish- 
ments add a charm to the household, and are 
a resource and safeguard — and may save one 
from dependence later in life. Dress your 
children well, neatly, tastefully — it is a part of 
education, but avoid all foolish vain expense. 
Save it for much more important objects. 
There is rarely enough money to do all one 
would desire to do. 

Teach your daughters to sew. To be able to 
do anything and everything with the needle 
and scissors is a great and womanly accom- 
plishment. If they are able to employ others 
in sewing, let them give employment to those 
who need it. It is the best kind of charity, 
to teach those whom they employ. It is no 
kindness to accept an ill-performed service, but 
it is a great kindness to have patience in re- 
quiring it to be done well. 

I was touched by hearing a young seamstress 



SEWING. 143 

say, upon admiring the neatness of her button- 
holes, that a young lady, since dead, had taught 
her to make them by patient attention. 



CHAPTER XTI. 

SCHOOL OR HOME. 

Having passed the age of infancy and child- 
hood, my prejudices are in favor of home edu- 
cation, if it can be conducted under the best 
influences ; not if there is to be a stern and 
formal mechanism, and rigid lifeless set of 
rules — then, the idea of home education is lost. 
A happy home is a necessity. Where there are 
stern and gloomy tempers, or irritable tempera- 
ments, send children to school by all means. 
It is in the sunshine, literally and metaphori- 
cally, that the mind and body reach their per- 
fection. 

Children of different minds and tempera- 

144 



J^OYS, 145 

ments require different treatment and influ- 
ences. All children need companionship, but, 
in a school, these distinctions are impossible. 
Some children require the mechanical momen- 
tum of a school ; others, of a shy or nervous 
character, find it easier to meet strangers who 
have no preconceptions with regard to them ; 
all these considerations must be weighed, and 
a decision thoughtfully made. 

Boys have the advantage, perhaps, in schools 
of finding their level among many, of gaining 
self-confidence, and the stirring influence of 
emulation, but they lose much in being de- 
prived of constant association with their sisters. 
At least I should desire that boys might be 
educated at home till their principles and tastes 
are so formed that they will recoil from vice 
and vulgarity, and be strong enough to shape 
their course with independence. If from cir- 
cumstances boys must go to school, give them 



146 SCHOOL OK HOME. 

as much of home influence as possible. 
Charles Kingsley says : 

The education of boys under the age of twelve 
years ought to be entrusted as much as possible to 
women. Let me ask, of what period of youth and 
of manhood does not the same hold true ? I pity 
the conceit and ignorance of the man who fancies 
that he has nothing left to learn from cultivated 
women. I should have thought the very mission 
of woman was to be, in the highest sense, the edu- 
cator of man from infancy to old age : that that was 
the work towards which all the God-given capacities 
of women pointed, for which they were to be edu- 
cated to the highest pitch, * * * Let ii^e ask 
women to educate themselves, not for their own sakes 
merely, but for the sake of others, — for whether they 
will or not they must educate others. I speak of 
those, and in so doing, I speak of every woman, 
young and old, who exercises as wife, as mother, as 
aunt, as sister, or as friend, an influence, indirect 
it may be and unconscious, but still potent and 
practical on the minds and characters of those about 
them, especially of men. 

With girls I think home education most de- 
sirable. After fourteen a shy and reserved girl 



GIRLS. 147 

might be sent to school, but there seems little 
to recommend school education for girls. The 
home circle may be advantageously widened 
by bringing in children of your friends to form 
a part of the class at home. 

The reasons which we admit for sending 
boys to school do not apply to girls. We 
would avoid the boldness of manner, the de- 
sire to attract attention, and that want of 
feminine reserve and grace, which school edu- 
cation sometimes brings. There is also a 
great disadvantage in the long confinement in 
schools, especially to girls, and where there is 
also the studying of lessons to be done at 
home. It is a wear upon the nervous system 
which is apt to injure the health and weaken 
the power of acquiring knowledge, and at an 
age when any such exhaustion should be care- 
fully avoided. 

If either boys or girls go to school, there 



I4<S SCHOOL OR HOME. 

should be some one eit home, expecting their 
return at the appointed hour, to learn the cx- 
jjeriences of the day, and listen with sympa- 
thetic interest to all that has occurred. Much 
bad influence may be thus averted. 

Home education involves no little toil and 
many restraints upon parents which they must 
be ready to meet. 

If boys are sent to school, I quote from 
Isaac Taylor : — 

Girls should be educated at home with a constant 
recollection that their brothers, and the future com- 
panions of their lives, are at the same time at school, 
making c:erlain accjuisitions indeed — dii)ping into 
the Greek drama and the like, but receiving a very 
partial training of the mind in the best sense ; or, 
perha])s, only such training as chance may direct ; 
and that they return to their homes, wanting in 
genuine sentiments and in the refinement of the 
heart, (iirls, well taught at home, may compel 
their brothers to feel, when they return from school, 
that although they may have gone some way bey(jnd 
their sisters in mere scholarsliip, or in matliematieal 



AT HOME. 149 

proficiency, they are actually inferior to them in 
variety of information, in correctness of taste, and 
in general maturity of understanding. With young 
men of ingenuous tempers the consciousness of 
their sisters' superiority in points which every day 
they will be more willing to deem important, may 
be turned to the best account. 

I have known families of children where boys 
and girls were educated together at home ; 
but there was an atmosphere of reading and 
conversation about them, much reading aloud, 
interest in the events and progress of the 
world, and travel abroad. It might not always 
be best. It depends upon the family. 

As your children grow into men and women 
teach them to be busy. Lord Bacon says, 
" In this theatre of life, it is permitted only for 
God and angels to be lookers-on." Let them 
draw, model, paint, do carpenter's work, turn- 
ing, or take their part in charities with intelli- 
gence. Idleness is not a passive but an active 



150 SCHOOL OR HOME. 

ill. If they are inclined to mechanics give 
them a room in which they can work. Let no 
dread of inconvenience produce a great evil. 
It is from this want of occupation, of tasteful 
pursuits, that the need of external excitement 
comes. 

The cultivation of music in both boys and 
girls is a constant bond of interest. Let them 
not waste their time in learning it superficially. 
Let them study it scientifically, both for their 
pleasure and profit. 

Drawing is an invaluable recreation. To a 
mother the power of sketching for a child's 
amusement and instruction can hardly be over- 
rated. Let this be also thorough. Half the 
world is blind. The advantage, even if they 
have little talent, is that they may be taught 
to see with discrimination. 

It makes me sad to see girls walking to and 
fro without object, sitting idle or devouring 



NOVELS. 151 

foolish novels. Not that I do not like novels, 
— a good, well-written novel is one of the 
charms of life, does everyone good — but the 
thousands of foolish novels and sentimental 
tales that are read by the young do great 
harm, in degrading the taste, and making 
cultivating and instructive books distasteful. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
HOME AND SOCIETY AND DRESS. 

Children are your friends and associates — 
often your advisers. The home is theirs as 
well as yours. You have brought them into 
it without any will of their own, and it is their 
home. Make it theirs. Never banish them 
from it by unnecessary restraints and regula- 
tions. Welcome their friends and companions 
— much bad association may be prevented by 
it. Let sisters remember how much they may 
do for their brothers by making home attract- 
ive to them, and make the brothers feel that 
they are the natural attendants and protectors 

of their sisters. 

152 



SOCIETY. 153 

Encourage as much society as you have the 
leisure and means to indulge in, but let the 
going out be the exception — where amusement 
becomes the occupation of life, it is degrading. 
Home entertainments, I do not mean feasting, 
but music, social intercourse, conversation and 
dancing. These are always a pleasure, and grow 
in attraction. 

The women of a family should be always 
appropriately dressed. A simple morning 
dress, till a walking dress or dinner dress is to 
be put on, is the proper dress to receive any 
visitor, unless it is an appointed and formal re- 
ception. There should be no slip-shod dress 
at home ; the old expression of '' not fit to be 
seen " should be impossible with habits of civ- 
ilization. 

Men should dress for dinner. It is a com- 
fort and refreshment after the day's work, and 
a proper respect to the ladies of the family, 



154 HOME AND SOCIETY. 

who return the compliment, and the dinner is 
a delightful reunion. 

There is one custom which I deplore — that 
of breaking up families every summer, — the 
mother and daughters going to some watering 
place, and the husband and sons left to pur- 
sue their business and get on as they may. 
If there are little children, it is often abso- 
lutely necessary, but it is not necessary when 
the family is grown, and one at a time the 
women should remain in town to make home 
attractive, and to see that the men who are la- 
boring for them are comfortable. 

The advantage of a country home for little 
children is hardly to be estimated. So many 
pursuits unattainable in town are the delight 
of children — natural history, flowers, gardens, 
out-of-door games, plays in the snow and free- 
dom — and for the mother so much more of 
ease ; but we must adapt ourselves to the ne- 



DRESS. 155 

cessities of a busy and struggling world. 
Let mothers remember that much as little 
children require their influence their grown 
sons, all but men, require it infinitely more. 

Dress. 
In a preceding chapter I have urged the ad- 
vantages of tasteful dress. Too often in this, 
the standard adopted is appropriate only to 
persons of ample fortune ; and one has to re- 
gret the influence upon young minds of a mis- 
leading emulation in sumptuous display, a sort 
of masquerading, supported, in many cases, by 
a curtailment in matters of essential import- 
ance. The safe rule is well expressed in the 
familiar adage. " Seek not to seem what you 
would be, but be what you would seem." 



